Abstract
In 2003 WTO began to compile its WTO World Tourism Barometer, a thrice-yearly publication with the aim of monitoring the short-term evolution of tourism. Preliminary full-year data, as included in the January 2004 issue, show that in 2003 tourism went through the third difficult year in a row due to the Iraq conflict, SARS and the continuing weak world economy. A fourth determining factor in 2003 was the strong and rapid movement of exchange rates, causing above all a redirection of tourist flows. Closer analysis of the evolution of tourism over the last three years reveals that the tourism sector of the USA was exceptionally hard hit by the combination of economic downturn and geopolitical uncertainty. With the world economy improving and the geopolitical climate more relaxed, prospects for 2004 look more promising.
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