International tourist arrivals grew by 4.5% in the first four months of 2011, despite new challenges emerging since the beginning of the year. According to the latest issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, growth was positive in all regions with the exception of the Middle East. Some subregions achieved double-digit growth: South America (+17%), South Asia (+14%) and South-East Asia (+10%).

“Global tourism continues to consolidate the recovery of 2010 despite the impact of recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the tragic events in Japan, which are temporarily affecting travel flows to these regions. We should nonetheless remain vigilant as we face other persisting uncertainties such as high unemployment and increased public austerity measures,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.

Seoul’s meetings industry and Korea MICE Expo Show Signs of Rapid Growth

The three-day Korea MICE Expo (KME) in Seoul wrapped up  with great promise for the future of the city’s meetings industry.  The South Korean capital, recently ranked 5^th in the world for hosting international conferences, successfully hosted the KME for the second year in a row – boasting increased growth each year. This year’s KME welcomed 100 international buyers and 205 domestic buyers, who met with 175 exhibitors at Coex.

Only non-stop service from Germany, with weekly flights from Dusseldorf

airberlin is to add the Caribbean island of Curaçao to its flight plan for the coming winter season. Effective 15th November 2011, flights to the largest island in the former Dutch Antilles will leave from Dusseldorf each week, served by an Airbus A330-200. airberlin is the only German airline to offer non-stop flights on the route.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association will host PATA Travel Mart 2011, September 6-9 in New Delhi, India, a market where outbound travel has averaged annual growth of 12% over the last five years and where foreign inbound arrivals are already up by 11.5% so far this year. Since the last PATA Travel Mart was held in New Delhi in 1993, the city has grown dramatically to become the fifth largest in the world by population. The 2010 Commonwealth Games paved the way for major improvements to the city’s infrastructure and heritage buildings. New Delhi now has a thoroughly revamped airport with a new Terminal 3.

‘Bhutan, happiness is a place,’ is how the Kingdom will be presented globally by the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB). The national flower, the Blue Poppy, blossoming above the text and tag line, is the new logo that the TCB has endorsed as what best reflects the essence of Bhutan and Gross National Happiness. As the popularity of Bhutan keeps growing, TCB went through exhaustive research on finding the best way to showcase the nation as an exclusive high-end destination. The task at hand was to enhance the uniqueness of the nation, its culture, tradition, environment, architecture and religion together with the philosophy of Gross National Happiness and merge them seamlessly into one logo.

Over 180 Bangkok-based service providers have offered enthusiastic support for the “Stopover Bangkok” campaign, a unique effort to attract airline transit passengers to enjoy a break for a night or two in Thailand’s exciting capital city. Organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in cooperation with MasterCard and numerous Thai private travel industry companies, the campaign is to run until 31 October 2011. It is targetted at the more than 1.5 million passengers who transit through Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport every year.