NEWS| Fourth Consecutive Year of Growth in 2007 for Europe's Tourism

European Tourism Insights 2007 - and Outlook for 2008, the European Travel Commission's (ETC's) fourth annual report on the state of the region's travel and tourism industry, shows that Europe enjoyed another year of good growth in 2007 - above the long-term forecast established by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) - with international arrivals and overnight volume rising by 4-5%.

The result is especially impressive given that 2007 was a fairly uneventful year in terms of regional tourism draws. After an exceptional crop of mega-events in 2006 (including the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, the FIFA Football World Cup in Germany, the Ryder Cup in Ireland, and a whole host of cultural events linked to famous artists and musicians), they were thin on the ground in 2007. The most important were arguably the Rugby World Cup in France and the America's Cup in Spain.