Case study 15: It's more fun in Philippines: Riding on the waves of social media

Abstract

Emerging markets are equally important to the tourism industry. In 2010, the UN World Tourism Organisation reported that international tourist arrivals grew by more than 7 % in the first 4 months driven partly by a strong rise in numbers in key emerging markets despite the challenging conditions as the world recovers the global economic crisis in 2009. The real growth opportunities can be found in the BRIC economies-Brazil, Russia, India and China-as well as the GCC nations such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia where emerging middle classes have desires to travel and hence they are the future of the travel and tourism industry.