Tourism continues its momentum in 2017. For 8 years, the growth of the sector is uninterrupted. In 2017, it was +7%, with 1.323 billion tourists and more than 1600 billion dollars in revenue (+5%). International tourist arrivals increased by 84 million in 2017.
The increase in 2017 was the strongest since 2010, with Europe and Africa leading the way with 8% and 9%, respectively, of arrivals.
In addition to the $ 1,300 billion of revenue earned by these destinations, international tourism generated an additional $ 240 billion in international non-resident passenger transportation in 2017, bringing the total value of tourism exports to $ 1.6 trillion. $ 4 billion a day on average, and 7% of world exports.
Demand for international tourism in 2017 continued its positive momentum in previous years, and many destinations worldwide have delivered robust results, including a strong recovery in destinations that have had security incidents in recent years.
The strong demand for outbound tourism from almost all markets, including rebounds from major emerging economies, namely Brazil and Russia, has benefited both advanced and emerging destinations.
The new report also shows that China remains the world’s largest emitter market, having spent $ 258 billion in 2017 on international tourism, nearly one-fifth of global tourism spending in 2017, which was $ 1.3 trillion , about $ 94 billion more than in 2016.
Among the major destinations in the world, Spain has emerged in 2017 ranked second among the most visited destinations for international arrivals, after France.
Japan ranks tenth in tourism receipts after posting double-digit growth for six consecutive years.
Russia returned to the world ranking of the top 10 spending countries in the tourism sector, rising to eighth position.
Data available for the beginning of 2018 confirm that international tourism continues its positive trend, with an annual increase of 6% in arrivals between January and April.
Source: UNWTO, UN
