Some 52 million tourists travelled last year for the first time, pushing the total number of global travelers to a new record figure of almost 900 million, according to the UN World Tourism Organisation.
The latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer reveals that global tourism
arrivals expanded by six per cent in 2007, to 898 million international
tourist arrivals. “Economic and tourism growth are driven by emerging
markets and developing economies. While mature markets remain the
leading destinations in the world, the faster growth rate of new
markets confirms UNWTO’s main message of tourism’s potential for the
developing world,” said UNWTO’s Secretary-General, Francesco Frangialli.
Against a background of more than seven per cent annual tourism growth
since 2000, Asia Pacific continues to drive global growth, attracting
185 million visitors during 2007. According to the UN WTO, while Japan
(+14%) has taken off as a destination, Malaysia (+20%) Cambodia (+19%),
Vietnam (+16%), Indonesia (+15%), India (+13%) and China (+10%) all
significantly improved their tourism figures last year.
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