World Travel Leader Measures Cost of September 11 and Recession, and Gives Forecast for 2002

London 14. 3. 2002 (ots) - On Sunday March 17 2002, the WorldTravel & Tourism Council (WTTC) will launch its economic researchresults showing the cost of the September 11 attacks andrecession on the travel and tourism industry for 2001- 2002. WTTC, a leading private sector organisation for the industry,estimates the September 11 attacks in the US has impactedgreatly on world tourism with a loss of tens of billions ofdollars (US) globally, and a correspondingly high loss of jobsin industry-related employment.

"Our research results show a very insightful analysis of whathappened to the industry last year, what we will see happeningin the next twelve months, and the long-term picture for traveland tourism," says Jean-Claude Baumgarten, WTTC President. "Thisyear will be challenging for the industry but we hope to see areturn to growth in the relatively near future if the industrycontinues its recovery and governments continue to partner withindustry to encourage that process to happen."

The Council's estimate for the industry in 2001, includingitemised estimates of the effect of September 11 and therecession respectively, and forecast for 2002 and beyond, is thefirst of its kind undertaken. The analysis of the World,regions, and 160 countries globally, reveals which nationsexperienced the greatest losses last year to consumer demand andemployment, and shows the economic growth and size of theindustry in all countries and regions.

The findings will also indicate when the expected return togrowth will occur and which countries are forecasted for thefastest growth in the coming years.

Further information: Scott Mills Director, CommunicationsWTTC Tel:

+44 (0) 870 727 9882 Mobile: +44 (0) 7939 244 682Email: scottm@wttc.org www.wttc.org

Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug"PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to bepublished under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial serviceproviding distribution of press releases from clients, who areidentified in the text of Protext reports and who bear fullresponsibility for their contents. PROTEXT