Private Sector & Development #7 - Should tourism be promoted in developing countries?

For over half a century now, tourism has been constantly expanding and at an even faster pace than international trade. This trend would today appear to be irreversible; the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) forecasts there will be over a billion international tourist arrivals worldwide in 2010 and 1.6 billion in 2020. Although developing countries still only hold a marginal position in international tourist flows, their performances are improving at a faster rate than the global average. For these countries – where economic activity is often based on a handful of sectors of activity -, tourism provides real potential for diversification. It provides valuable foreign currency exchange and government revenues through taxation and can be a major source of employment as well as a vehicle of economic and social progress.