The European travel trade has high hopes
for inbound arrivals in 2005, according to a survey of tour
operators and hoteliers conducted by the European Tour Operators
Association (ETOA) at its recent Hoteliers Marketplace forum in
London.
Optimism is
returning and client perceptions of Europe are improving, said Tom
Jenkins, executive director of the ETOA, after the
event.
Backing up that
claim, 83% of the 300 buyer and seller attendees polled at the
marketplace said they expect business this year to surpass 2004
levels; nearly half predicted they would see growth in excess of
10%.
Eighty-seven
percent said clients opinions of Europe were either the same or
more positive than one year ago, and only 5% said opposition to the
Iraq war had a significant impact on business.
On the down side,
the European trades optimism does not extend to visitor spending,
with 80% predicting that clients visiting from overseas would spend
the same or less this year. Further, the ever-weakening U.S. dollar
topped the list of potential threats to a recovery for inbound
European tourism, just ahead of fears of terrorist
attacks.