WTTC: Lebanon to rank first globally in tourism growth

18 March 2010

BEIRUT: The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) released its annual research report for 2010, in which it forecasted Lebanon to rank first worldwide in terms of  growth in the travel and tourism industry.

The WTTC reports, which cover selected countries and regions, quantify all aspects of travel and tourism demand, consequently translating this information into economic concepts of production.

The report expects Lebanon’s travel and tourism industry’s economic activity to register a real growth rate of 11.3 percent in 2010. This growth is supported by stable political and security conditions and increased confidence from Lebanese expatriates and Gulf nationals, among others.

The WTTC report ranked Lebanon first worldwide in terms of the growth of its travel and tourism industry, followed by Qatar (10.9 percent), Sri Lanka (10.2 percent), Zimbabwe (9.2 percent), China (7.1 percent), Malawi (7.0 percent), India (6.9 percent), Denmark (6.9 percent), Cambodia (6.8 percent) and Namibia (6.8 percent).

In terms of employment, the industry is expected to grow by 7.9 percent in real terms in 2010, providing a total of 199,000 jobs in Lebanon, and accounting for 13.7 percent of total employment in the country.

Lebanon also ranked first relative to the growth of its travel and tourism industry’s employment in 2010, ahead of Swaziland (6.5 percent), Cambodia (6.3 percent), Namibia (5.1 percent), Sri Lanka (5.1 percent), Zimbabwe (4.9 percent), Anguilla (4.3 percent), Rwanda (4.1 percent), Denmark (4.1 percent) and Bolivia (4.1 percent).

Furthermore, it is projected that the industry will generate 272,000 jobs, thus accounting for 16 percent of total employment in 2020.

The worldwide travel and tourism industry is expected to account for 2.8 percent of global employment in 2010, while in the Middle East, it is projected to account for 3.4 percent of total employment in the region, the report said.

As for demand for travel and tourism in Lebanon, it is expected to grow by an annual real growth rate of 6.6 percent in 2010 and by 4.9 percent in the ten-year period between 2011 and 2020.

Lebanon also ranks seventh among the 10 fastest growing countries in the world in 2010 in terms of their travel and tourism demand, according to the report. – The Daily Star

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