The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has unveiled its latest research results which indicate the importance of some of the world’s emerging markets as strong sources of income for fly to let investors.

Tourism Satellite Accounting (TSA) research is based on the UN standard for Satellite Accounting.

The world’s travel and tourism industry is expected to generate close to US$ 8 trillion in 2008, rising to approximately US$ 15 trillion over the next 10 years, according to the latest TSA research.

However, as a result of global economic downturn, TSA results reveal that the annual global growth rate of the industry will experience a slowdown in 2008, to 3 percent rather than the annual 3.9 percent we seen last year.

WTTC President Jean-Claude Baumgarten said: “Challenges come from the US slowdown and the weak dollar, higher fuel costs and concerns about climate change. However, the continued strong expansion in emerging countries - both as tourism destinations and as an increasing source of international visitors - means that the industry's prospects remain bright into the medium term.”

However, those who are considering investment property for tourist letting purposes in Africa and the Middle East will see that according to the TSA research, these regions are experiencing higher growth rates than the world average, at 5.9 percent and 5.2 percent respectively.

John Walker, Chairman of Oxford Economics, said: “In particular, China, India and other emerging markets are still growing rapidly, which will increase both business and leisure travel, while many countries in the Middle East are undertaking massive tourism-related investment programmes.”

The United Nations World Travel Organization reported in October, through its World Tourism Barometer, that ‘In the Middle East, upcoming developments in destinations such as Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates or the completion of the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, will continue to mark tourism in the region, whose intra-regional traffic is expected to continue benefiting from increased disposable income as a result of rising oil prices.’

Mature markets such as Europe, are falling below the world average growth at 2.3 percent; however, the Council stresses that even in countries where economic growth slows, there is likely to be a switch from international to domestic travel rather than a contraction in demand for travel and tourism.

A good example of strong domestic tourism demand is the fast emerging southern region of Calabria in Italy, which alone saw over 209,000 Italian visitors in 2006.

Prospects for buy to let investors in southern Italian regions are high. Domestic demand, complemented by a distinguished international presence, creates an attractive combination for landlords looking to have as few vacant weeks a year as possible.

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