In the last six years citizens’ expenditure from emerging and fast growing economies in international tourism services has more than doubled, whereas in the G7’s it has barely grown. The gap in the aggregate expenditure is closing very fast, according to BBVA recent research. While in 2005 the total of the emerging block was only a quarter of the G7’s, in 2011 it was more than half. By origin, it is becoming more popular to hear Mandarin, Russian, Brazilian (Portuguese) and Korean all over the world as economic growth is creating a booming new middle class.
“Tourism industries, such as hotel and air passenger transportation must adapt to this reality to take advantage of this opportunity,” analysts said.
The aggregate tourism receipts of the emerging countries have also increased very fast in the last few years a
nd in 2011 were almost equivalent to half of the receipts of the G7 economies. The fact these countries are also becoming a hot destination worldwide, also mean new opportunities for foreign direct investment projects in this industry as well as heightened demand for the appropriate human capital and to close the infrastructure gap.
There is, however, a very large heterogeneity: China is becoming one of the top destinations for international tourists, either for holidays or business purposes.
