In 2012, the UN World Travel Organization (UNWTO) calculated that global tourism had reached a record breaking one billion travellers in the year. British tourist, Mrs Dale Shepard-Floyd arriving in Spain was symbolically revealed as the world’s 1 billionth tourist on December 13, 2012.
With a billion people packing a suitcase and travelling there are more and more travel destinations and options opening up every year. Where will you travel in 2013? Increased competition for tourists between countries and more experienced travellers makes the options endless.
In 2011 (last full year’s data) the top tourism countries as listed by the UNWTO were:
1 France – 79.5 million arrivals
2 United States – 62.3 million arrivals
3 China – 57.6 million arrivals
4 Spain – 56.7 million arrivals
5 Italy – 46.1 million arrivals
6 Turkey – 29.3 million arrivals
7 United Kingdom – 29.2 million arrivals
8 Germany – 28.4 million arrivals
9 Malaysia – 24.7 million arrivals
10 Mexico – 23.4 million arrivals