Importance Of International Tourism

Tourism is an important parameter of socio-cultural identity and the heritage of a country. In the era of globalization, tourism enhances economic growth of a country by creating jobs, acting as a source of foreign exchange and helping in developing regions attracting tourists.

The tourist’s journey and the exchanges taking place among the various actors of the tourism value chain involve cross-border activities. Such activities may touch upon policies or regulations in the countries involved during the process. Many of these activities fall within the realm of international trade and it is here that international trade law intervenes. The latter section of the research paper focuses on international tourism as part of international trade – international tourism is a part of the Balance of Payments (BOP) under the categories ‘travel’ and ‘passenger transport’.

THE TOURISM INDUSTRY: Economic and Trade Importance of the Sector

Over the past few decades, tourism has enjoyed a rapid growth rate and has gained geographic diversification, becoming one of the fastest-growing economic sectors worldwide. Modern tourism encompasses a growing number of new destinations and such dynamics have turned tourism into a key driver for socio-economic progress. Apart from tourism impacting the domestic markets,

With US$ 1.5 trillion export earnings, international tourism accounts for 30% of the world’s exports of services and 6% of overall exports of goods and services. Moreover, in the worldwide export category, tourism was ranked fourth in 2013, after fuels (US$ 3.3 trillion), chemicals (US$ 2.0 trillion) and food (US$ 1.5 trillion). It is of significance to note that throughout the 2009 global downturn, international tourism was rather more resilient than other categories, decreasing only by 5% in real terms, compared to overall exports declining by