WORLD TRAVEL & TOURISM COUNCIL (WTTC) delegates in Doha last weekend for its annual conference heard the accession of the 10 new member states to the European Union could generate an additional US$54.6bn of travel and tourism GDP and 3m jobs for those countries. Research by Oxford Economic Forecasting indicates that Hungary and Poland have the most to gain in terms of tourism by EU accession and implementation of economic policies that bring them on par with existing EU countries. Cyprus, Malta and the Czech Republic are already well established on the tourist map. Sponsored by Qatar Airways, the three-day gathering in the Sheraton Hotel heard a real variety of discourses including Stelios Haji-Ioannou of easyJet, Ian Davis managing director McKinsey & Company, Renee Webb MP, Minister of Tourism, Bermuda and David Scowsill, chief executive officer, Opodo.
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