The reports presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, show some optimistic forecasts concerning the nearest future of the international travelling. Some experts assume travels will be even more important than Internet and TV, helping people to destroy cultural barriers and improve diplomatic relations.
The study provided by Penn Schoen Berland and made by the order of Marriott International covers over 1,100 travellers aged 35-50 years. These are people residing in the United States, China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Spain, India, France, and Germany. 96% of the people participating are sure that travel is an important way of stimulating economy. Also, 77% of respondents feel that travel and tourism are important as they help different nations to understand each other and, thus, help to make Earth a peaceful place.
The development of technologies is also positive for speeding our life up and making travel more convenient. This is one of the reasons for growth of the number of international arrivals. In 2012 the total number of international arrivals will reach 1 billion – this is two times more than just 10 years ago. Experts believe that we are coming into ‘golden age of travel’, when people have more both business and travel opportunities abroad.
Such improvement of travelling will certainly help to develop economies by creating new working places. It is predicted that by 2021 the industry will provide over 69 million of net jobs, around 80% of which will be concentrated in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Contributions of travel industry into the global domestic product will also add around 4.2% and will estimate US$9.226 trillion.