Veteran tourism journalist launches a World Travel Industry Index

Monitoring tourism and air transport for almost three decades, veteran tourism journalist Murray Bayley launches the World Travel Industry Index, a compilation of traffic data from Asia/Pacific, Europe and North America, which helps to assess the industry’s evolution, especially in regard to the current world economic crisis.

For Murray Bailey, research director of Travel Business Analyst, the WTTI publisher, “the new index was started after the collapse of Lehman Brothers bank in September 2008 at a time where there was much talk in the industry on what was happening. We however had no clear idea on what precisely was happening. The WTTI s a measure for traffic – travellers through airlines, hotels, destinations- but does not include revenues.”

The WTII is published in the monthly market newsletter of Travel Business Analyst as part of its Market Monitor – which tracks 100 travel measures around the world. Originally titled ‘Crisis Market Monitor’ when started in October 2008, it was renamed in July, and offered as a separate product. Bayley sees a slow improvement in tourism. In June, the WTTI estimated travel business down by 5% following a sharp contraction of almost 8% in May.