UNWTO’s Tourism Resilience Committee (TRC) met for the first time today in Madrid. The recently established TRC is one of the responses of the Organization to provide the sector, and its members in particular, with the necessary support to help them endure these challenging times.

The Committee, chaired by His Excellency Zoheir Garranah, Tourism Minister of Egypt, represents a unique platform to share short-term analyses and prospects as well as response best practices to help better asses and weather the impact of the current situation on tourism performance.

by editorial office, Ip

The Thai tradition of spending the month of April together with the family is reflected by various extras at Millenium Hilton Bangkok in 2009. In addition to the traditional Songkran festivities, welcoming the Thai new year with a spectacular water festival, people in the Thai metropolis will also be celebrating the Christian Easter – the whole panoply. Getting to know foreign cultures and their customs, tasting the famous Thai cuisine and enjoying the conveniences of a modern luxury hotel:

The Technical Monitoring Association, TÜV, awarded the Toyota Corolla Verso with the Golden Vehicle Inspection Sticker of TÜV Report 2009. Dr. Guido Rettig, president of the association, bestowed the award upon Director of Toyota Germany, Keiji Sudo, during a parilamentary evening in Berlin. Also among the participants was the Japanese ambassador Toshiyuki Takano, who much embraced the accolade.

von Dennis Hanneke

Fraser Place Howff Shinjuku is the growing choice of gold-standard serviced apartments for corporate travelers on extended stay or relocation as well as business or leisure travelers on short or daily stays in Tokyo. The extensive collection of fully serviced apartments include designer-styled units with spectacular views – limited units only for the discerning few with a desire for stylish living with a difference.

For the first time after years of growth, sometimes achieving two-digit growth rates, Scandlines is reporting slight decreases in transportation returns. The financial crisis and oil prices – at record highs for months – have particularly affected sea transportation with the Baltic states and holiday and shopping travel between Germany, Denmark and Sweden.

In 2008, international tourist arrivals reached 924 million, up 16 million over 2007, representing a growth of 2%.
Tourism demand slowed significantly through the year under the influence of an extremely volatile world economy (financial crisis, commodity and oil price rises, sharp exchange rate fluctuations), undermining both consumer and business confidence and resulting in the current global economic recession.
The second half of 2008 saw growth come to a standstill with the number of international arrivals declining slightly – a trend which is expected to continue in 2009.