Update of Monthly Tourism Indicators 16 June 2010

Overview Air passenger traffic volumes plummeted in April, as the Icelandic volcanic eruption led to widespread disruption for would-be travellers. The regional breakdown indicated that the slowdown was truly global although the impact was most apparent in Europe where volumes were down 11.7% on the year in April compared to a 6% rise in March. In countries where data is available the impact of events in April was clear, if not as marked as suggested by the IATA figures. For that group of 20 countries growth slowed to 6.9% on the year compared to 11.8% in March. The cause of this discrepancy is probably that countries where arrivals data was available through to April were principally located in Asia-Pacific, where the fallout from the eruption was less severe. The incorporation of new data on visitor arrivals from Haver, Eurostat and PATA reaffirms our view that 2010Q1 was marked by a relatively robust rebound in activity. Based on available data we estimate that arrivals were up by 5.7% on the year, although mature markets, particularly in Europe continued to struggle.

Air passenger volumes growth plummets in April…

…as volcanic eruption inflicts widespread damage… D:\WTTC\2009\data\tourism\stindicators.xls

…following relatively strong Q1

18 countries yet to provide 2010 data D:\WTTC\2009\data\tourism\patadata.xls