Higher oil prices have so far had limited effect on international tourism growth according to the WTO.

A recently concluded WTO report demonstrates that up to the moment,the impact of high oil prices in international tourism has been little.Experts consulted in the framework of this research project note that only a small percentage of the increase in oil prices as been passed\nonto consumers in terms of final purchase price, says WTO Chief of\nMarket Intelligence, Augusto Huéscar. 

Demand for international\ntourism has remained strong through 2005. WTO’s estimates for the year\n2005 is expected to end with a growth of 5 to 6% in international\ntourist arrivals, which can be considered exceptional. 

The full\nWTO report on the impact of high oil prices in international tourism,\nhighlights moreover that, in recent crises higher oil prices had no\ndirect impact on tourism. The effect was rather indirect, as price\nhikes contributed to the deterioration of the economic situation, and\nconsequently to the corrosion of consumers’ purchasing power. Unlike\nprevious crises it is not an unexpected shock, but rather a progressive\nescalate predominantly reflecting a strong demand for energy driven by\neconomic growth. Oil prices might affect the bottom-line results of\ntourism companies through higher costs. But for the moment consumer\nconfidence is still high and tourism demand has not been affected.

Transport\ncompanies suffer increases in fuel price of course the first and most\ndirectly. “The airlines hardest hit by the rises will be those in the\nUS still dealing with the aftermath of previous year’s negative\nevents”, he explains, “although continuing high oil prices may also\naffect tourist flows to developing nations as their airlines’ capacity\nto absorb such increase is significantly lower”. Consequently tourism\nto these countries, in which distance and air access from important\nsource markets are already in many cases a bottleneck, may also be\naffected, in case transport costs rise further.

For further information contact:

Rok Klancnik, WTO Press and Communications Department
T: (34) 91-567-8191 / F: (34) 91-567-8218, comm@world-tourism.org
www.world-tourism.org