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Mag. My Hue McGowran
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London (pte034/11.07.2005/13:21) - Analysts are predicting that the immediate slump in tourism caused by last week's terrorist bombings in central London, will not last long, pointing out that travellers are developing a growing immunity to the effects of terrorist attacks and other major setbacks.
The negative affects to the travel industry will be felt most predominantly in London, where 50 people were killed and 700 injured as they rode the public transport system.
Based on recent attacks, such as the Madrid train bombing in March last year, in which 191 lost their lives, industry officials say that the tourism figures will wane while travellers halt or alter their travel destinations.
Anthony Rodolakis, a hospitality and leisure analyst at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) http://www.pwcglobal.com in Tampa, said that what has been a strong period of growth for London's tourism industry will be slightly softened.
Compared with April last year, hotel rooms in the capital city rose by 9.7 per cent, and hotel occupancy also rose during the same period, said Rodolakis.
Before the attacks, hotel rooms were filled to 80 per cent capacity, and PWC had predicted a strong pace of growth for the rest of this year, but now, Rodolakis said, "all bets are off".
On the other side of the world in Bali, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, the Bali October 2002 bombings cut overall arrivals by 32 per cent in the last quarter of that year. However the market had fully recovered by 2004, with arrivals having increased by 46 per cent.The first quarter of 2005 yielded a 10 per cent rise in visits.
Thailand, whose tourism industry struggled after the December 2004 tsunami, has seen a year-on-year increase of 1.4 per cent in the first four months of 2005.
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