Tweet

The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimates the impact of tourism in the world economy at 9% of world GDP in 2013. In Europe it is the third largest socio-economic sector. It is of vital importance for countries like Greece, Portugal or Spain and of significant importance for countries like France, Switzerland or Italy. For example, it represents 7.8% of Switzerland's GDP in 2014. According to Eurostat, in 2012, one in ten enterprises in the european non-financial business economy belonged to the tourism industries, representing 2.2 million enterprises. And this number is steadily growing from year to year. Other figures are also very impressive: travel and tourism economic activity is expected to have attracted capital investment of US$ 135.8 billion in 2013. And this amount is expected to rise by 4% in 2014 and by 3.2% per year over the next 10 years to US$ 194.1 billion in 2024. Here is another spectacular figure: in 2012, international tourist arrivals worldwide reached 1.035 billion compared to 166 million in 1970! Until recent years, Europe and North-America have been the largest sources and recipients of international tourists. Today, the Asia-Pacific region reports the fastest growth. Not surprisingly, the UNWTO predicts that international tourist arrivals will reach the number of 1.8 billion by 2030! And growth in emerging countries is expected to be twice as fast as in developed ones. However, not everything is perfect, of course. Let us not forget the negative side of an uncontrolled expansion of tourism which can be a serious threat to the world's ecosystem.

Tweet