International travel: A vital dimension of global integration

A prominent theme in writings about international economic relations over the past. decade has been the increased integration of the world economy. Some analysts have highlighted the closer linking of the world’s financial markets, the trillion-dollar-a-day foreign exchange market and the greater ability of some “emerging market” economies to tap the vast pool of foreign financing. Others have focused on the greater role that traded goods and services play in economies as barriers to trade fall and as transnational corporations diversify their production locations and markets. The present chapter outlines developments in another sector of international trade, namely international travel. It is a sector that has grown rapidly, pushed by rising discretionary incomes, falling real costs and more rapid communication and transportation, and one that is of considerable economic importance to some countries.

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