According to the most recent UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourist arrivals grew by four per cent. Emerging economies (+4.1 per cent) regained the lead over advanced economies (+3.6 per cent), with Asia and the Pacific showing the strongest results. With an additional 39 million international tourists, up from 996 million in 2011, international tourist arrivals surpassed one billion (1.035 billion) for the first time in history in 2012.
“2012 saw continued economic volatility around the globe, particularly in the Eurozone. Yet international tourism managed to stay on course. The sector has shown its capacity to adjust to the changing market conditions and, although at a slightly more modest rate, is expected to continue expanding in 2013. Tourism is thus one of the pillars that should be supported by governments around the world as part of the solution to stimulating economic growth,” said Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary-General.
Among the top ten tourist destinations, receipts were up significantly in Hong Kong (China) (+16 per cent), the USA (+10 per cent), the UK (+6%) and Germany (+5 per cent). At the same time, a significant number of destinations around the world saw receipts from international tourism increase by 15 per cent or more – Japan (+37 per cent), India and South Africa (both +22 per cent), Sweden and the Republic of Korea (both +19 per cent), Thailand (+18 per cent) and Poland (+16 per cent). Growth is expected to continue in 2013 only slightly below the 2012 level (+3 per cent to +4 per cent) and in line with UNWTO long term forecast.
