Last year, the number of tourist trips increased by 6% compared to 2017 amounting to a record 1.4 billion. This was stated in the UNWTO report. It was expected that this milestone would be passed only in 2020.
Europe accounted for 713 million international arrivals, marking an increase of 6%. The Asia-Pacific region ranked second with 343 million trips (6%). The top three leaders are North and South America with 217 million (3%).
At the end of the year, Africa was visited 67 million times (7% of growth), and the Middle East was 64 million (10%).
The UNWTO report said, “It is expected that in 2019 the flow of tourists in the world will increase by another 3-4% due to stable fuel prices, which leads to the availability of air travel. There is also a tendency to a strong increase in the number of trips from developing countries – primarily from India and Russia, as well as from Asia and the Arab countries.”
