Comparison of foreign trade and tourist traffic figures

Tourist traffic is so closely linked with the general state of economic activity, that it will be of interest to compare it with some other economic barometer. A good example is foreign trade, especially in countries dependent upon international exchange of goods. In those countries foreign trade plays a decisive role in their entire economy and emphasis is laid on its connection with employment, which is considerably influenced by imports of raw materials and exports of finished goods. Thus foreign trade can be an actual indicator of overall economic prosperity, so that variations in foreign trade activity must have a most far‐reaching influence on the value of tourist traffic, which will tend to expand and contract in sympathy with variations of economic activity in general and of foreign trade in particular.