PARIS, France (AFP) — Terrorism and epidemics now and again make a dent in tourism numbers, but the sector usually quickly rebounds and it now employs hundreds of millions and accounts for a tenth of global output.
Here are five key points about the sector, which grew 4.4 percent last year to nearly 1.2 billion people taking a trip outside of their country:
– Europe (including Russia) remains the most visited region with 609 million visiting last year, followed by the the Asia-Pacific region at 277 million visitors, and the Americas at 190 million. However the number of visitors to north Africa fell by 8 percent according to data from the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
– In 2014, international tourism receipts from lodging, meals, transportation and purchases hit $1.5 trillion, up from 900 billion in 2010. The Chinese were the biggest spenders, followed by Americans.
– Tourism accounts for 10 percent of gross domestic product and accounts for one in 11 jobs, according to the UNWTO.
– China, the United States and Britain led outbound travel growth in 2015, while Russians and Brazilians travelled less due to the economic crises in their countries.
– the share of emerging markets has passed from 30 percent in 1980 to 45 percent in 2014 and should rise to 57 percent by 2030, which corresponds to an additional 1 billion international tourist arrivals.
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