A combination
of the coming summer and flailing Euro has led to record bookings for
holidays in Greece, say Holiday Hypermarket.
British
travellers are not dissuaded by news of upheaval in Greece as a spike
in bookings has indicated travellers are seeking summer holidays in
the land of the ancients, say Holiday Hypermarket
Between
January and May this year, Zakynthos International Airport in Zante
ranked in the top 10 for Holiday Hypermarket customers, particularly
those flying from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham.
This is in
keeping with a recent Travelex survey that said all-inclusive
holidays have increased as much as one third towards the end of May,
which may be partly due to the pound strengthening against the euro.
May saw foreign exchange outlets selling euros at a rate of more than
1.20 to the pound, which is an all-time high of three-and-a-half
years.
Almost half
of the travellers surveyed said they would not change their holiday
plans no matter what happened in Greece, while just 2% cancelled
their pre-booked trips to the country.
The majority
reported feeling "mildly concerned" with the political
turmoil in the western European country and the result may be that as
many as four million Britons cross the channel to Greece over the
summer months, which is double the average number.
Calum
MacDonald, Marketing Manager at Holiday Hypermarket comments: "It's
incredibly affordable to travel in the Eurozone at the moment, and
that includes prime destinations such as Corfu, Rhodes and Crete that
are not directly affected by trouble in Athens.
"While
the financial and political situation in Greece is changing, its
holiday appeal has not, making it a prime destination for people to
enjoy a summer trip."
G20
recognizes Travel & Tourism as a driver of economic growth for
the first time and commit to work on travel facilitation
The G20 world
leaders have for the first time, recognised the importance of Travel
& Tourism as a driver of jobs, growth and economic recovery.
The Leaders’
Declaration from the annual meeting of the G20 held in Los Cabos,
Mexico, on 18-19 June states “we recognize the role of travel and
tourism as a vehicle for job creation, economic growth and
development, and, while recognizing the sovereign right of States to
control the entry of foreign nationals, we will work towards
developing travel facilitation initiatives in support of job
creation, quality work, poverty reduction and global growth.”
This is the
first time that Travel & Tourism has been included in the G20
Leaders’ Declaration and is the culmination of long-term efforts by
the industry, led by UNWTO and WTTC, to encourage world leaders to
see the potential of Travel & Tourism to create millions of new
jobs and billions of dollars of GDP.
According to
WTTC the industry directly will contribute $2 trillion in GDP and 100
million jobs to the global economy in 2012. When the wider economic
impacts of the industry are taken into account, Travel & Tourism
is forecast to contribute some $6.5 trillion to the global economy
and generate 260 million jobs – or 1 in 12 of all jobs on the
planet.
Research by
UNWTO and WTTC, released at the T20 Ministers Meeting last May,
showed that the G20 could boost their international tourist numbers
by an additional 122 million, generate an extra US$ 206 billion in
tourism exports and create over five million additional jobs by 2015
by improving visa processes and entry formalities. Findings showed
that of the 656 million international tourists who visited G20
countries in 2011, an estimated 110 million needed a visa, many of
whom were deterred from traveling by the cost, waiting time and
difficulty of obtaining a visa. Facilitating visas for these
tourists, many from some of the world’s fastest growing source
markets such as the BRICs, could stimulate demand, spending and
ultimately create millions of new jobs in the G20 economies.
Speaking
after the publication of the G20 Leaders’ Declaration, UNWTO
Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai and WTTC President & CEO, David
Scowsill said:
“We commend
the G20 world leaders for recognising the importance of Travel &
Tourism as a driver of economic growth and job creation for the first
time and stand ready to support all efforts by the G20 countries in
this respect. This is a significant success for the industry,
facilitated by the relationship between our two organisations and
widely supported throughout the industry. By facilitating visas, the
G20 countries stand to gain five million jobs at a time of rampant
unemployment across the world. These are in addition to the hundreds
of millions of direct and indirect jobs already being supported every
day by the sector.”
