UN Tourism Market Report Says People Will Travel

By Overseas Property Live • November 11, 2008

Worldwide economies in tailspin, banking systems in array and consumer spending grinding to a halt, who would have thought the worldwide tourist market remains relatively unscathed, however this news according to a UN Tourism Market report offers a glimmer of hope for overseas property markets around the globe.

While it would be wrong to suggest that the tourist market is in any way recession proof, it is interesting that people are choosing to save money by cutting back on how much they spend when they are on holiday rather than cancelling a trip abroad in its entirety. Historically holidays are the last area of personal spending to suffer in a downturn with the desire for a break outweighing the need to save money.

The UN tourism report likens the current situation to world sentiment after the SARS bird-flu outbreak in Asia which had a marked impact upon global general travel numbers but concluded that the current slowdown would be nowhere near that level.

Naturally, there seem to be differing opinions on how the credit crunch will impact upon the long-haul tourist market with some Far Eastern countries expecting the worst of the downturn to hit in early 2009 when people traditionally travel to winter sun destination at New Year. Whatever the eventual impact the credit crunch has on the tourist market it is inconceivable that people will allocate the same expenditure to travel abroad as 12 months ago with tourist arrivals around the world expected to slow this year mainly due to higher fuel prices and cuts in individuals leisure spending.

“Families with holiday homes abroad are now benefiting from their assets as it allows them to holiday overseas but limit expenditure locally by reducing incidental expenditure such as resturants, entertainment and transport options but still get away from it. A rise in the popularity of travelling with relatives and friends to reduce overall holiday costs is also seeing holiday homes being called upon more often.” comments Chintan Mahida, resident overseas property blogger at Nubricks.com.

While the UN is suggesting that tourism numbers will remain broadly unchanged the truth is that places such as the Philippines (one of the more popular tourist areas of Southeast Asia) have already scaled back tourist growth expectations from 10% to as low as 5% this year, however due to bookings made earlier in the year to its tropical beach resorts particularly Boracay, Cebu and Palawan island resorts are still good until January. News yesterday that budget carrier Ryanair reported its profits had fallen by 47% percent to £170 million down and widely expects further losses before things get better with plans to reduce winter flight prices.

The longer the worldwide economic slowdown continues the more chance of these figures being reduced even further but individuals with homes overseas look set not only to benefit from cheaper holidays themselves but rental opportunities from those looking to downsize their holiday expenditure.