
The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) is expecting a new record for international tourism by the end of the year, with 1.1 billion tourists.
With 4.7% growth on the period from January to October, International tourism shows stronger growth than the long-term trend forecast by the WTO for 2010-2020. By region the strongest increase was recorded in the Americas (+8%), ahead of Asia-Pacific (+5%) and Europe (+4%), which remains the most visited region in the world. By sub-region, North America (+9%) and South Asia (8%) stand out, as does Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Northeast Asia and Northern Europe (each at 7%).
"In light of this trend, international tourism should close the year 2014 with record figures. These results are remarkable if one considers that different regions around the world continue to face major geopolitical and sanitary issues, and that the economic recovery around the world remains quite fragile and imbalanced. More importantly, we are seeing that policies regarding the sector are developing in many countries. This is encouraging, particularly since tourism is one of the sectors that is most able to hire at a time when job creation must be the priority,"declared the secretary general of the WTO, Taleb Rifai.