July 7, 2006 | HotelNews | Preliminary figures from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for the first four months of 2006 include approximately 236 million international tourist arrivals worldwide, or 10 million more than in the same period of 2005.
South Asia (+21%) was the most dynamic subregion following the recovery of the destinations hit by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Arrivals in the Maldives were as much as 97% above the same period last year. Sri Lanka (+25%) also did well, while foreign arrivals in Thailand through Bangkok airport rose by 29% in the first three months of 2006.
Indonesia’s recovery, meanwhile, has been unfortunately compromised by the 27 May earthquake that occurred in the vicinity of Indonesia’s second favourite tourism destination, Yogyakarta. Other important growth markets were recorded in India (+15%), Macau (+21%), Cambodia (+19%), Singapore (+15%), Philippines (+13%) and Hong Kong (+12%).
