Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".
Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2011, there were over 983 million international tourist arrivals worldwide, representing a growth of 4.6% when compared to 940 million in 2010.International tourism receipts (the travel item of the balance of payments) grew to US$1.03 trillion (€740 billion) in 2011, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 3.8% from 2010. In 2011, international travel demand continued to recover from the losses resulting from the late-2000s recession, where tourism suffered a strong slowdown from the second half of 2008 through the end of 2009. After a 5% increase in the first half of 2008, growth in international tourist arrivals moved into negative territory in the second half of 2008, and ended up only 2% for the year, compared to a 7% increase in 2007.The negative trend intensified during 2009, exacerbated in some countries due to the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, resulting in a worldwide decline of 4.2% in 2009 to 880 million international tourists arrivals, and a 5.7% decline in international tourism receipts.
Tourism is important, and in some cases, vital for many countries. It was recognized in the Manila Declaration on World Tourism of 1980 as "an activity essential to the life of nations because of its direct effects on the social, cultural, educational and economic sectors of national societies and on their international relations.
effect of medical tourism
World tourism statistics and rankings
Most-visited countries by international tourist arrivals
Rank | Country | UNWTO Region | International tourist arrivals (2011) | International tourist arrivals (2010) | Change 2010 to 2011 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | France | Europe | 79.5 million | 77.1 million | +3.0% |
2 | United States | North America | 62.3 million | 59.8 million | +4.2% |
3 | China | Asia | 57.6 million | 55.7 million | +3.4% |
4 | Spain | Europe | 56.7 million | 52.7 million | +7.6% |
5 | Italy | Europe | 46.1 million | 43.6 million | +5.7% |
6 | Turkey | EuroAsia | 29.3 million | 27.0 million | +8.7% |
7 | United Kingdom | Europe | 29.2 million | 28.3 million | +3.2% |
8 | Germany | Europe | 28.4 million | 26.9 million | +5.5% |
9 | Malaysia | Asia | 24.7 million | 24.6 million | +0.6% |
10 | Mexico | North America | 23.4 million | 23.3 million | +0.5% |
International tourism receipts
International tourism receipts grew to US$1.03 trillion (€740 billion) in 2011, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 3.8% from 2010. The World Tourism Organization reports the following countries as the top ten tourism earners for the year 2011, with the United States by far the top earner.Rank | Country | UNWTO Region | International tourism receipts (2011) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | United States | North America | $116.3 billion |
2 | Spain | Europe | $59.9 billion |
3 | France | Europe | $53.8 billion |
4 | China | Asia | $48.5 billion |
5 | Italy | Europe | $43.0 billion |
6 | Germany | Europe | $38.8 billion |
7 | United Kingdom | Europe | $35.9 billion |
8 | Australia | Oceania | $31.4 billion |
9 | Macao (China) | Asia | $27.8 billion |
10 | Hong Kong (China) | Asia | $27.2 billion |
International tourism expenditure
The World Tourism Organization reports the following countries as the top ten biggest spenders on international tourism for the year 2011.Rank | Country | UNWTO Region | International tourism expenditure (2011) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Germany | Europe | $84.3 billion |
2 | United States | North America | $79.1 billion |
3 | China | Asia | $72.6 billion |
4 | United Kingdom | Europe | $50.6 billion |
5 | France | Europe | $41.7 billion |
6 | Canada | North America | $33.0 billion |
7 | Russia | Europe | $32.5 billion |
8 | Italy | Europe | $28.7 billion |
9 | Japan | Asia | $27.2 billion |
10 | Australia | Oceania | $26.9 billion |
Most-visited cities by international tourist arrivals
Top 10 most visited cities by estimated number of international visitors by selected year | |||||||||||
Rank | City | Country | International visitors (millions) | Year | Notes | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Paris | France | 15.6 | 2011 | Extrapolation, excluding outer suburbs visitors | ||||||
2 | London | United Kingdom | 15.2 | 2011 | |||||||
3 | Antalya | Turkey | 10.5 | 2011 | May include same-day visitors | ||||||
4 | New York City | United States | 10.3 | 2011 | Projection, may include same-day visitors | ||||||
5 | Singapore | Singapore | 9.2 | 2010 | Excluding Malaysian citizens arriving by land | ||||||
6 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia | 9.0 | 2011 | Only hotel guests | ||||||
7 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong (China) | 8.7 | 2011 | Excluding Mainland Chinese visitors | ||||||
8 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 8.1 | 2011 | Only hotel and hotel apartment guests | ||||||
9 | Istanbul | Turkey | 8.1 | 2011 | May include same-day visitors | ||||||
10 | Bangkok | Thailand | 7.2 | 2010 |
Your Information is so informative.
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why is philippine not listed in the most visited country?
ReplyDeleteinformation about tourism.. good..
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