U.S. losing business travellers

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LONDON, England (AP) -- The United States is losing substantial numbers of business travelers to Europe because of the stringent security measures it imposes on international visitors, according to a report by a tourism industry group released today.

Europe, meanwhile, is failing to fully capitalize on increased interest from Asian travelers because many countries do not have adequate services and infrastructure for that burgeoning market.

The World Travel Market 2006 report -- conducted by Euromonitor International -- found that total business arrivals to the United States fell by 10 percent to 7 million over the 2004-2005 period, while the number of the business visitors to Europe grew by 8 percent to 84 million over the same period.

Euromonitor International spokesman Clement Wong said the trend away from North America was likely to intensify as security restrictions continue, making obtaining visas more difficult.

"Rather than travel to the U.S., business travelers and leisure travelers are coming to Europe," Wong said at the opening of the four-day World Travel Market in London's Docklands business district.

Despite the drop in business travelers to the United States, figures due to be released later Monday by the new United Nations World Tourism Organization, or UNWTO, are expected to show that 2006 was the third year of sustained growth for the tourism industry.

The UNWTO said that sets the ground for a "healthy expansion" of the sector during 2007, but at a slightly slower pace.

"Tourism keeps the world economy on the move," said UNWTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli ahead of the UNWTO report's release.

"It is No. 1 in world services trade, the largest export earner, and employs millions of people."

Wong said that Europe was failing to capitalize on some of this growth by failing to put in place special services and infrastructure for Asian visitors, whose numbers hit 14 million in 2005.

"With its decreasing and aging population, Europe can no longer depend on intra-regional travel to sustain its travel and tourism industry," the report said.

"Nor can it afford to ignore the fact that Chinese and Indian tourists spend more on holiday than their European counterparts."

Wong said that several European countries are lacking basic facilities such as coach parking spaces in their capitals to cater to tourist groups from Asia. The report also identified new trends in global tourism, including "safe danger" tourism in Africa.

"Safe danger" tourism is when travelers choose to enter potentially dangerous locations in the company of guides. The most well-known current example is favela tourism in Brazil's shantytowns.

Euromonitor International said that such "controlled edge" tourism could also be offered in Freetown in Sierra Leone where tourists could be escorted by armed guards around no-go areas in highly volatile cities.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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