PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

The Travel Business Roundtable/ World Travel And Tourism Council (TBR/WTTC) Index Of Leading Economic Indicators Was Virtually Unchanged In May

Despite Decreases in Other Sectors, Consumer Confidence Grew

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 16, 2002 - The May TBR/WTTC Index of Leading Economic Indicators for the travel and tourism industry remained virtually unchanged from the previous month. The sideways movement in May comes on the heels of seven consecutive months of very strong growth.

Since the September 2001 low point, the TBR/WTTC Index has risen at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of nearly 11 percent - the strongest sustained period of industry growth since the inception of the TBR/WTTC Index in 1987.

The brief table below reflects a comparison of the TBR/WTTC and the U.S. Index of Leading Economic Indicators.

"The stronger rate of growth as demonstrated by the recent performance of the U.S. Indicators is encouraging, indicating that a period of much stronger growth is clearly ahead," notes Dr. James Howell, economist and President of the Boston-based Howell Group. " The point to remember is that despite the ongoing difficulties in capital markets, underneath, the economy remains quite strong."

The May performance in the TBR/WTTC Index resulted from a combination of offsetting forces. Specifically, one indicator increased, four declined, and four were unchanged.

According to Dr. Howell, the most important development in May was the strong advance in consumer confidence. Since early spring, both the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Expectations and The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index have turned upward. Since September 2001, The Conference Board's Index has risen from a low of 78.1 to a high of 106.9, an increase of 37 percent.

The strong increase in the consumer confidence component in the TBR/WTTC Index was sufficiently strong to offset declines in the following four indicators:

	ARC Sales
	Retail sales at eating and drinking establishments
	Hotel/motel occupancy rate
	Rental car revenue per day

While there might typically be concern about declines in these basic sectors, taken together the aggregate negative impact of these four sectors amounted to no more than 0.3 percent in May. Because there is confidence that the pace of U.S. economic growth will accelerate over the summer and fall months, there is an expectation that as this begins to evolve, the monthly rates of increase in these four indicators will also improve substantially. There were no changes among the four remaining indicators in the TBR/WTTC Index 3Ñ4 ATA RPMs, personal consumption expenditures for travel and related items, rental car revenue per day, and travel and tourism industry employment In addition, while it may be too early to make a definitive conclusion, Dr. Howell adds that it is interesting to note that over the past several months, employment in the travel and tourism industry has ceased to fall and is beginning to stabilize.

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The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the global business leaders' forum for Travel & Tourism in. Its members are chief executives from all sectors of industry, including accommodation, catering, entertainment, recreation, transportation and other travel-related services.

Founded in April 1990, WTTC policies are set and implemented by a Member Executive Committee, a President and a small staff in London, with representative offices in North & South America, Asia/Pacific and Europe.

The Travel Business Roundtable is a CEO-based organization representing all sectors of the travel and tourism industry. In addition to the major airlines, car rental companies, travel management agencies, hotel chains, TBR’s membership roster also includes companies such as The Coca-Cola Company, USA Today, the National Football League, and the International Council of Shopping Centers, demonstrating the broad scope and diversity the industry represents. In 2000, travel and tourism was the nation’s third largest retail industry and second largest employer with more than 18 million Americans employed directly or indirectly in travel and tourism.

CONTACT:
Debra Kelman
212-794-DKPR (3577)
dkelman@dkpr.com

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