World tourism outpaced global trade
Travel Business
According to UN World Tourism Organisation data, tourism spendings surpassed global trade earnings for the fourth consecutive year
Among the most popular destinations in the world, U.S. and China occupy the first and second positions, followed by UK, France and Spain.
According to the UNWTO's latest data, international tourism experienced a 4% growth in 2015 and generated a total of $1.4trn in revenues, while global trade grew by only 2.8%. Also, during 2015, tourism accounted for 7% of the world's total exports, registering a 1% increase when compared to 2014.
"Tourism is today a major category of international trade in services. Tourism has shown a strong capacity to compensate for weaker export revenue in many commodity and oil-exporting countries. Tourism is increasingly an essential component of export diversification for many emerging economies as well as several advanced ones," Taleb Rifa, Secretary General at UNWTO declared.
The increase in global tourism happened despite general security in the world's transportation hubs.
Nevertheless, figures indicate that 2015 was the worst year for international trade in the last 6 years-period.
Among the most popular destinations in the world, U.S. and China occupy the first and second positions, followed by UK, France and Spain.
According to the UNWTO's latest data, international tourism experienced a 4% growth in 2015 and generated a total of $1.4trn in revenues, while global trade grew by only 2.8%. Also, during 2015, tourism accounted for 7% of the world's total exports, registering a 1% increase when compared to 2014.
"Tourism is today a major category of international trade in services. Tourism has shown a strong capacity to compensate for weaker export revenue in many commodity and oil-exporting countries. Tourism is increasingly an essential component of export diversification for many emerging economies as well as several advanced ones," Taleb Rifa, Secretary General at UNWTO declared.
The increase in global tourism happened despite general security in the world's transportation hubs.
Nevertheless, figures indicate that 2015 was the worst year for international trade in the last 6 years-period.