Europe
29 Sep 17

UNWTO Annual Report 2016

As stated in the Annual Report, 2016 proved to be another excellent year for international tourism despite many challenges. International tourist arrivals grew for the seventh consecutive year to reach 1.2 billion, a sequence of uninterrupted growth not recorded since the 1960s. The strongest growth was recorded in Africa and in the Asia and the Pacific region. France (84,5 million), USA (77,5 million), Spain (68,5 million), China (56,9 million) and Italy (50,7 million) have been the world's top destinations preferred by international tourists in 2015. In terms of international tourism expenditure, China leaders the ranking (261 USD billion) followed by USA (122 USD billion), Germany (81 USD billion), United Kingdom (64 USD billion) and France (41 USD billion). Between 2008 and 2016, 300 million more people travelled internationally for tourism-related reasons. Growth in advanced economy destinations, representing an increase of 5% compared to 2015, exceeded that of emerging economies (+2%).