ABSTRACT
The value of goods and services consumed by tourists and tourism-related Thrms exceeds U.S.$1.2 trillion annually and accounts for nearly four percent of gross world product (GWP), making travel and tourism one of the largest industries in the world in terms of value-added (World Travel and Tourism Council 1999, 2002). It is also among the world's largest export industries: In 2001, international travelers spent more than U.S.$465 billion on lodging, food and beverages, entertainment, transportation, and souvenirs—an amount exceeding total world exports of food (U.S.$437 billion), raw materials (U.S.$110 billion), iron and steel (U.S.$130 billion) and nearly equal to world exports of automobiles (U.S.$565 billion), fossil fuels (U.S.$616 billion), and chemicals (U.S.$595 billion) (World Trade Organization 2002; World Tourism Organization 2002a). In addition, the travel and tourism industry is a major source of employment worldwide; 71.9 million people work in tourism-related Thrms and another 126.7 million people are employed indirectly by firms supplying the travel and tourism industry with good, services, capital equipment, and infrastructure (World Travel and Tourism Council 2002).
