Global tourism set to reach new high
Latest figures from UNWTO says international tourism is set to hit a new record by the end of this year.
The global tourism body believes the number of international tourists travelling the world in one single year will top 1.1 billion for the first time.
During the first 10 months of this year, the number of international tourists grew by 5% to 978 million, 45 million more than during the same period of 2013.
"In view of this trend, international tourism is set to end 2014 with record numbers", said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.
"These are remarkable results considering that different parts of the world continue to face significant geopolitical and health challenges, while the global economic recovery remains rather fragile and uneven."
Region by region, the strongest growth was registered in the Americas (+8%), followed by Asia and the Pacific (+5%) and Europe (+4%).
By subregion, North America (+9%) and South Asia (+8%) were the star performers, as well as Southern and Mediterranean Europe, North-East Asia and Northern Europe (all +7%).
But international tourism grew at a more modest pace in Western Europe (+2%) and was stagnant in Central and Eastern Europe (0%), in stark contrast with the last three years when arrivals grew at an average of 8% a year.
UNWTO will release preliminary 2014 full year results for international tourist arrivals by 27 January 2015.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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