The International Tourism Trade Fair, Fitur, recently took place in Madrid. After the “Word Travel Market”, which takes place in London in November, Fitur is the world’s second most important international fair for travel and tourism. What support can business translation services provide to this hugely influential sector?

Thousands of tourism professionals, companies and providers of tourism services (hotels, travel agents, tour operators, government bodies..) from the entire international tourism industry, representing over 170 different countries and regions, meet to show off their best holiday ideas, discuss the state of the sector and new trends. Travel and tourism is the main source of income for many countries, such as Egypt, Greece, Spain, Malaysia and Thailand, and many island nations, such as The Bahamas, Fiji, Maldives, Philippines, where tourism and travel activities have become a vital driving force in creating economic growth and employment in the country.

According to the advance release of the World Tourism Barometer, presented for the occasion of the Madrid fair, by The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), in 2010 there have been 935 million international tourist arrivals worldwide, representing an increase of 7 percent compared to 2009 (the year in which global tourism fell 4 percent due to the economic crisis). In 2011, growth is expected to continue at an average rate of 4-5%. The travel and tourism industry generates about 9% of total GDP and around 235 million jobs in the worldwide economy, which represents 8% of global employment and is becoming one of the largest and most dynamic industries in today’s global economy.

When looking at tourism as a confluence of cultures and languages, the business translation services industry becomes an obvious and important tool, as well as a directly connected sector. The translator, therefore, as a mediator between languages and cultures, plays a key role in the achievement of effective communication and understanding with tourists. The translation of tourist texts, such as tourist guides, brochures, restaurant menus, tourist accommodation catalogues, advertisements and promotional posters, means that tourists can communicate in, learn about, and get closer to the country they visit. Business translation services are therefore vital to the hospitality and tourist industries.

The quality of these translations directly affects the image of a country abroad, and the ‘brand’ of the country, which occupies an important place in tourism marketing and advertising campaigns. Thus, translation must be attractive, direct, appropriate and well expressed, since any error in translation can lead to disinterested potential tourists. With this in mind, all tourist texts should be professionally translated to attract future tourists, and contribute to the growth of this important sector. However, there is undoubtedly more work to be done. How do you think translation and interpreting services can further support the industries of travel and tourism?

At Veritas, we provide professional travel and tourism translations, guaranteed by our qualified and experienced linguists, who are specialists in this field. For more information about this topic, please get in contact with us, or visit the business translation services section of our website.