International tourist arrivals worldwide experienced an increase of 6.2% during the first four months of 2018 compared to the same period of the previous year, according to figures provided by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
By region, those that grew the most during the first months of 2018 were Asia-Pacific (+7.8%) and Europe (+6.8%). International tourism increased by 5.6% in Africa, 4.5% in the Middle East, and 3% in the Americas.
The global growth of 6.2% is currently above the forecasts made by the UNWTO, which predicted an increase of between 4 and 5% for the year 2018.
Furthermore, the UNWTO has published its annual report for 2017, in which a total of 1.323 billion international tourist arrivals occurred. This figure represents 84 million more than in 2016, with a relative growth of 7%.
By world regions, Europe accumulated the highest number of tourist arrivals in 2017: 671 million, 51% of the total and 8% more than the previous year.
These were the figures by world regions in 2017:
Over the last eight years, international tourism has grown at an average annual rate of 4%. If we compare the figures from 2008 with those from 2017, we see that the number of international tourists has increased by 393 million.
The UNWTO report also offers the ranking of the five countries in the world that spend the most on tourism. China was first in 2017, with a total expenditure of 258 billion dollars. The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France occupy these top positions.