Millennium was world let-down for tourism

Millennium Eve was an anti-climax for the tourism industry on a global scale and not just in the UK, according to figures from the World Tourism Organisation (WTO).

The millennium bug also failed to have an impact on the industry anywhere in the world, said the organisation.

Statistics from the WTO show there were 657 million international tourist arrivals last year - a 3.2% rise over 1998. The organisation had expected an increase of 4-5%.

It blames the shortfall on the fact that the much-heralded boom in year-end travel for the millennium failed to materialise.

WTO secretary-general Francesco Frangialli said: "There was no Y2K bug," and added: "There was no mass fever to travel to exotic locations for the millennium, nor to attend special parties with outlandish prices."

During the entire 12 months of 1999, tourism in Europe increased at the slowest rate anywhere in the world, going up by just 1% compared with 1998.

The Middle East experienced the fastest regional growth, with tourism levels up 17.5%.

In Africa, the Americas and South Asia, tourism increased by 9%, 3.8% and 3.7% respectively, while East Asia and the Pacific region bounced back from two years of declining tourism levels.

Last year the region attracted almost five million more tourists than it did in 1996.

by Louise Bozec