World tourism sees an up-turn

Significant improvements in the number of international tourists visiting the South East Asian countries hit by the December 2004 tsunami have been recorded this year.

According to the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) the country which has witnessed the greatest boost to its tourism figures in the first quarter of 2006 has been the Maldives, with the number of international tourists visiting up 97 per cent.

Similarly Thailand has seen a 29 per cent boost in visitor numbers and Sri Lanka a 25 per cent rise.

The United Nations specialised agency reported however, that due to the earthquake which struck in May, Indonesia's recovery has not been as successful.

Mr. Francesco Frangialli, UNWTO secretary general, commented: "International tourism has now entered a more stable phase of sustained demand without big peaks and troughs.

"Although the rate of growth is slowing gradually, international tourism is firmly on track to grow at a rate above the long-term average of four per cent for the third year in a row now - barring unexpected events, of course."

The UNWTO report that international tourism figures for the first four months of 2006 are up ten million on the same period in 2005.

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