The report covers the main trends in outbound travel demand for the first eight months of 2012 together with estimates for the full year and also contains initial forecasts for 2013, as presented at the Pisa Forum (as it is widely known).
In addition, it focuses on various topics and market segments that were discussed at the Forum.
These include the role of technology and social media, the challenges facing the cruise business, niche markets such as adventure travel and medical tourism, and the need for better accessibility for people with disabilities.
As the following sections make clear, the world travel industry again proved its resilience and ability to overcome crises this year. Despite many different negative factors, the travel and tourism industry is expected to reach a new all-time high in 2012.
According to IPK's World Travel Monitor, outbound (international) trips will increase by 4% in 2012, which is only slightly lower than last year's 5% growth figure. This is an impressive result.
And the outlook for next year is quite respectable, too, even though there is significant uncertainty about the global economy.
World outbound travel is expected to grow in the 2-3% range, which would be very solid growth in the present circumstances and would again demonstrate the sector's proven stability and long-term growth record.
The main drivers are likely to be Asia and other emerging markets, but Europe is also expected to show low positive growth in 2013.
As usual, the Pisa Forum was organised in co-operation with the European Travel Commission (ETC) in Brussels, whose Executive Director Eduardo Santander stressed the importance of such co-operations. Some 50 experts from around the world, including all regions of Europe, along with North and South America and parts of Asia-Pacific, took part.
They represented international organisations, national and regional tourism organisations and associations, international research institutes and private companies from travel and tourism and related sectors.
ITB Berlin is delighted to continue its close association with IPK International and the Pisa Forum for the eighth consecutive year. In March 2013 at the ITB Berlin Convention, Rolf Freitag will present updated figures for 2012 as well as current forecasts for 2013.
Meanwhile, we wish you happy reading!
Dr Martin Buck, Vice President Travel & Logistics Messe Berlin David Ruetz, Head of ITB Berlin Rolf Freitag, President & CEO IPK InternationalSection A: World Travel TrendsGlobal tourism defies numerous crises People around the world still want to travel despite the global financial and economic crisis, and the tourism industry once again proved its resilience and ability to overcome the impact of negative external factors this year. International travel is expected to reach a new all-time high in 2012 and then grow moderately in 2013, driven by emerging markets. These were the key messages from the 20th World Travel Monitor Forum, held in Pisa in late October 2012.
According to IPK International's World Travel Monitor, a total of 6.8 billion trips will take place this year, 2.5% more than in 2011. Domestic travel will grow by 2% to reach 5.77 billion trips while international travel will rise by 4% to 1.03 billion trips. This forecast is in line with the expectations of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) which sees a 3-4% rise in international tourist arrivals in 2012. These figures match the forecasts for 2012 made at last year's Pisa forum, underlining the event's proven forecasting accuracy.
Looking ahead to 2013, IPK expects world tourism to show its resilience once again with international trips growing in the 2-3% range while the UNWTO is predicting a 2-3% rise in international arrivals. This moderate but solid growth demonstrates that world tourism is remarkably stable despite slow global economic growth and the impact of the eurozone
crisis and other factors. "More people plan to travel next year and we can expect modest but satisfactory growth in 2013," said Rolf Freitag, CEO of IPK International.
World travel trends (change (in %) over respective previous year)
Shorter trips but higher spending in 2012World travel was hit by a diverse mix of bad news and events this year, including severe weather around the world, political conflicts, the depressed global economy and soaring energy prices, Rolf Freitag, CEO of IPK International, told forum participants. But emerging markets continued to provide good news with rising salaries and upward mobility combining to generate growing tourism demand, he stressed.
Overall, international trips are expected to show 4% growth this year but overnight stays will only increase 2%, reflecting the continuing trend to shorter trips, the World Travel Monitor results showed. In contrast, global travel spending grew healthily by 7% to €875 billion, resulting in a 3% increase in spending per trip and a 5% rise in average spending per
night (due to shorter average trips). Asians, South Americans and North Americans spend the most per trip, partly due to higher flight costs, while European spending is lower on average.
The USA remains the world's top destination for international travel with 56 million visitors, ahead of Spain (51m) and Germany (48m), according to the international tourism experts at IPK. The other top 10 destinations in 2011 were France, Italy, China, the UK, Austria, Mexico and Turkey.
Travellers are older and book online more than everTravellers are also getting older, the World Travel Monitor showed. The number of travellers aged 55+ has increased to 23%, while 35% are in the 15-34 age category and 42% are aged between 35 and 54. Holidays remain the dominant reason for taking an international trip (71%), ahead of business travel 16% and other reasons such as visiting friends and relatives (13%). More people are flying on holiday than using their car or another means of transport.
The internet has now clearly established itself as the main place to buy travel with 54% of bookings, well ahead of travel agencies which have slipped back to 24%. Interestingly, this is a global trend with Asians and South Americans now catching up with North Americans and Europeans in terms of booking via the web, the IPK figures showed.
South America and Asia drive global travel growthThe fastest-growing region this year was South America with a 12% increase in outbound trips to a new all-time high, the World Travel Monitor showed. However, growth rates in the region are now slowing as demand in Brazil in particular cools off (see Section D for further details). Africa also showed very healthy growth with a 9% rise in outbound travel, although
from a smaller base level.
Full report:
www.itb-berlin.de/media/itbk/itbk_media/itbk_pdf/WTTR_Report_2013_web.pdf 
