The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has published the UNWTO Tourism Outlook 2018. It is a barometer of world tourism and looks at tourism trends around the world. Among other things, UNWTO monitors the growth and decline of tourism activity in different countries and regions of the world.
The most popular destinations in global tourism
The largest tourist growth was shown by two regions - Africa, by 9% and Europe, by 8%. At the same time, more than half of the tourists from the global international flow (671 million people) rushed to Europe, while Africa received less than one tenth of this figure - only 63 million tourists have visited there.
All Nordic countries, including the UK, reported an increase in tourist traffic. Travelers wishing to enjoy the beauty of Foggy Albion are not deterred even by the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester last year. The weakening of the British pound has significantly helped England to enter the top ten most popular countries for tourism.
While many children, as well as their parents, are still afraid of going “out in Africa,” the UNWTO study shows a steady increase in tourism in most African destinations that reported their data. For example, in Tunisia, the number of traveler arrivals was 23% higher than in 2017. And south of the Sahara, major cities in Kenya, Cote d'Ivoire, Mauritius and Zimbabwe are performing well. And the most popular island destinations in Africa are Seychelles, Cape Verde and Reunion.
Top 10 most popular countries for tourism
The main mode of transport for all major tourist destinations were aircraft (57%), followed by cars (37%), water transport (4%) and rail (only 2%).
The majority of tourists (55%) named leisure as the purpose of visiting another country. Business accounted for only 13% of travel. The purpose of the other visits was either not specified or was related to reasons such as visiting relatives, medical tourism or observance of religious customs.
Interesting Facts:
- According to the report, the total volume of international tourist travel increased by 6.8 percent to 1.32 billion in 2017. This is the highest figure since 2009 and 84 million more than in 2016. And all thanks to the rapid global economic recovery.
- The rebound in travel demand from Brazilians and the Russian Federation after several years of recession and the continued growth of the Indian economy have also boosted profits for many popular travel destinations.
- Expenditures on international tourism in 2017 amounted to 1.34 trillion. dollars due to strong outgoing demand from both traditional and emerging markets. Almost 40% of this amount comes from the expenses of those who traveled to Europe last year. They are followed by the Asia-Pacific region (29% of total expenditures) and the Americas (24%).
- Who is spending all this money? The UNWTO report says that Chinese tourists spent nearly a fifth of the $ 1.34 trillion. dollars - $ 258 billion. But American travelers turned out to be more frugal and took only second place, having spent $ 135 billion in 2017.The Russians also entered the top ten tourist spenders (+ 30%), ahead of the South Koreans and Italians, but behind the Canadians, Germans, British, Australians and French.
The vast majority of international travel takes place within the travelers' own regions (intra-regional tourism). And Europe remains the largest source for outbound tourism in the world. It generates nearly half of the world's international arrivals. But the Asia-Pacific region is catching up. Currently, one in 4 trips takes place within Asia and the Pacific.