Amidst the gloomy forecasts some upbeat predications from the World Travel & Tourism Congress show a break in the clouds for longer term employment opportunities.

"This year, the task of assessing travel and tourism trends and drawing up forecasts has been more challenging than ever because of many uncertainties", commented WTTC president Jean-Claude Baumgarten.

However, while the latest results show a contraction in the market lasting into 2010, the global importance - and economic dependance - on tourism is rising. And with this increase a significant rise in employment potential will follow.

The contribution of the travel economy is expected to grow from 219 miillion jobs in 2009 to over 275 million jobs in 2019. This represents the overall share in total employment will increase from 7%, or 1 in every 13 jobs, to over 8.4%,  or 1 in every 11 jobs, the WTTC predicts.

Although WTTC recognises that the worldwide tourism industry faces a difficult two years its 2009 Economic Impact Research, released today at ITB Berlin, forecasts that a rise of around 0.3%  in 2010 will signal an upturn for the industry, with emerging economies leading the way.