According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), global international tourism grew by approximately 6% in 2007 to a record 898 million arrivals, an increase of nearly 52 million on 2006.
Tourism generates around $500 billion annually making it the world's largest industry.
The fastest growing region was the Middle East with a 13% increase in visitors, up by 5 million to 46.4 million.
The smallest percentage increase was in Europe where visitor numbers increased by 19 million to 480.1 million, a 4.2% increase. However Europe still holds the lions share of international travellers with 53.5% of the total world number of arrivals.
Asia and the Pacific regions increased by 17 million to 184.9 million, a 10.2% increase. The second slowest growing region was the Americas by 6 million to 142.1 million, a 4.7% increase. Africa rose by 3 million to 44.2 million, an increase of 7.9%.
This is the fourth consecutive year of growth following the drop in numbers after the terrorist attacks of 2001. All this despite the increase in aviation fuel prices, health scares, ever tightening security measures, natural disasters and the general economic slowdown and credit crunch.
It is expected that the growth rate in 2008 will slow down as the economic situation in the Western economies continues to bite.
