Growth in the global tourism industry in 2012 will be broadly in line with expectations set at the beginning of the year.

Announcing its final forecast for 2012 during the World Travel Market (WTM) event held in London this week, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) predicted that global tourism will grow 2.7 per cent during the year.

Earlier this year, WTTC released a report predicting a 2.8 per cent growth in the sector.

The main reasons for the marginal downgrade are that WTTC now expects world GDP growth to be 2.3 per cent in 2012; down 0.2 per cent from the beginning of the year and the continuing problems in the Eurozone.

The latest economic data from WTTC's research partner, Oxford Economics, show marginal downgrades in the Eurozone and the US since the beginning of the year, contrasting with upgrades in Japan and emerging markets.

David Scowsill, president and CEO of WTTC said: "The latest figures from WTTC confirm the resilience of the travel and tourism industry around the world.

"Despite some specific and regional downgrades to short-term economic and industry forecasts, the longer-term prospects for Travel and Tourism remain very positive, and continue to be boosted by strong growth and rising prosperity in emerging markets.

"We expect the direct contribution of travel & tourism to global GDP to grow by an average of 4 per cent per annum between 2011 and 2021 with North East Asia making up a growing share of the overall Travel and Tourism contribution to GDP."

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