World Tourism Highlights for 2013, UNWTO 2014 Edition

<p>Did you now that <strong>9% of Worlds GDP in 2013</strong> was made thanks to tourism and related services?</p><p>It turns out that every <strong>1 of 11 employee</strong>s is employed in tourism sector. Tourism industry in 2013 <strong>generated $1.4 trillions</strong> in export, what is about <strong>6% of Worlds export</strong> and pretty serious <strong>29% of services export.</strong></p><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/wto2013.jpg&quot; alt="World Tourism Organization" title="World Tourism Organization" width="643" height="294"></p><p><em>World Tourism Organization (Image source:&nbsp;unwto.org)</em></p><p>I didn't. But thanks to&nbsp;The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) I learned that.</p><h2>International tourism in 2013 - key trends and outlook</h2><ul><li>International tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) grew by 5% worldwide&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.538em;">2013, reaching a record 1087 million arrivals, after topping the&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">1 billion mark in 2012.</span></li><li>Asia and the Pacific recorded the strongest growth with a 6% increase&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.538em;">in arrivals, followed by Europe and Africa (both +5%).</span></li><li>In the Americas, international arrivals grew by 3%, while in the Middle&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.538em;">East they were flat.</span></li><li>International tourism receipts reached US$ 1159 billion worldwide in&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.538em;">2013, up from US$ 1078 billion in 2012.</span></li><li>With a 5% increase in real terms, the growth in international tourism&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.538em;">receipts equalled the growth in arrivals.</span></li><li>China has consolidated its position as the number one tourism source&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.538em;">market in the world, spending US$ 129 billion on international tourism.</span></li><li>Forecasts prepared by UNWTO in January 2014 point to growth of 4%&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.538em;">to 4.5% in international tourist arrivals in 2014 – above The Tourism&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Towards 2030 long-term forecast of 3.3% a year.</span></li><li>By UNWTO region, prospects for 2014 are strongest for Asia and the&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Pacific (5% to 6%), followed by Africa (4% to 6%)</span></li></ul><div>&nbsp;</div><div><h2>International Tourist Arrivals</h2></div><h2><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/touristarivals.jpg&quot; alt="International Tourist Arrivals" title="International Tourist Arrivals" width="730" height="371"></h2><p><em>International Tourist Arrivals (Image source: unwto.org)</em></p><div><p>International tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) grew by 5% in 2013, reaching a record 1087 million arrivals worldwide, up from 1035 million in 2012, when the 1 billion mark was exceeded for the first time ever.&nbsp;</p><p>Despite a global economy in ‘low gear’, demand for international tourism exceeded expectations, with an additional 52 million international tourists travelling internationally in 2013.</p><p>Europe led the growth in absolute terms, welcoming 29 million more international tourists in 2013, and raising the total to 563 million. Growth (+5%) was double the region’s average for the period 2005-2012 (+2.5% a year).</p><p>Asia and the Pacific recorded the fastest relative growth across all UNWTO regions, with a 6% increase in international arrivals, or 14 million more than in 2012.&nbsp;</p><p>Africa saw an increase of 5%, equivalent to 3 million more tourists, reaching 56 million.</p><p>In the Americas, international arrivals grew by 3% to 168 million, or an increase of five million.&nbsp;</p><p>The Middle East (0%) has not yet succeeded in returning to growth, even though some destinations performed rather well and others saw a moderate recovery.</p><p>Growth is expected to continue in 2014 at a sustained rate of 4.0% to 4.5% worldwide.&nbsp;</p><p>By UNWTO region, prospects for 2014 are strongest for Asia and the Pacific (+5% to +6%) and Africa (+4% to +6%), followed by Europe and the Americas (both +3% to +4%). In the Middle East (0% to +5%) prospects are positive yet volatile.</p><h2>Europe – a surprisingly strong 2013</h2><p>International tourist arrivals in Europe were up by a solid 5% in 2013, an increase of 29 million on 2012 to a total of 563 million.<br>As the most visited region in the world with 52% of all international arrivals and comprising many comparatively mature destinations, a growth rate of 5% in Europe is remarkable.&nbsp;</p><p>Tourism receipts grew by 4% in real terms, reaching US$ 489 billion (euro 368 billion), accounting for 42% of receipts worldwide.<br>By subregion, the highest growth was recorded in Central and Eastern Europe, with 7% more arrivals in 2013.&nbsp;</p><p>Many destinations recorded double-digit growth, especially smaller ones such as Georgia and Belarus (both +15%), Armenia (+14%) and Kazakhstan (+11%). while the subregion’s largest destination, the Russian Federation, reported a robust 10% increase. Ukraine and Poland (both +7%) consolidated their healthy growth of 2012 when they hosted the UEFA European football Championship.</p><p>Learn more:&nbsp;<a href="http://mkt.unwto.org/publication/unwto-tourism-highlights-2014-edition"…;