One billion tourists predicted for 2012 |
Update: 12:10, Sunday, Sep 30,2012 (GMT+7)
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The number of worldwide tourists is set to exceed one billion for the first time this year, new statistics have suggested.
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A
record of 467 million tourists travelled overseas from January to June,
according to figures released this week by the UN World Tourism
Organisation (UNWTO).
Traditionally, international tourism is at
its highest level in July and August, which would indicate the threshold
of a billion tourists in a year is likely to be passed for the first
time.
"You don't have an even spread throughout the year. In a
normal year, the first six months account for a total volume of 45 per
cent of the year," said John Kester of the UNWTO.
In 2011, there was a total of 982 million international tourists.
So
far this year, tourism has increased in every region of the world. Asia
showed the strongest growth with an eight per cent increase on last
year’s figures.
A total of four per cent more people travelled to
Europe, the world’s most visited region, in the first half of this year
compared with the equivalent period last year.
The number of
visitors to Africa also grew strongly, with its seven per cent increase
partly attributed to greater stability in Tunisia after a turbulent
2011.
Durban Beach - Africa
“Tourism is one of the few economic sectors in the world
growing strongly, driving economic progress in developing and developed
countries alike … creating much needed jobs,” said Taleb Rifai, the
UNWTO secretary-general.
The report also measured the amount of
money spent on travel abroad. Chinese travellers increased their
spending more than any other nationality, with a 30 per cent rise in the
amount of money paid on international tourism compared with the first
six months of last year.
A total of $1,030 billion was spent on overseas tourism in 2011, according to UNWTO figures.
Athens
The
most visited country in the world was France, which had 79.5 million
tourists arriving last year. That placed it comfortably ahead of the
United States, which was ranked second with 62.3 million visits.
The United Kingdom was in seventh place, with 29.2 million visits recorded.
Nick
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