El World tourism closed 2019 with 1.500 billion international tourist arrivals, 4% more than the previous year, and ten consecutive years of growth, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
This represents 54 million more international tourists than in 2018, a growth that continues to outpace the global economy (3%), said this Monday, in a press conference, the head of Market Intelligence and Competitiveness of the UNWTO, Sandra Carvao.
International arrivals grew last year in all regions of the world, but uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook, geopolitical and social tensions and the slowdown of the global economy meant that growth was more moderate compared to the "exceptional" growth rates of 2017 (7%) and 2018 (6%), it added.
For 2020, the UNWTO, based in Madrid, is "very cautiously" predicting a similar result to last year, in which, pending closing data from some countries, including the USA, no significant changes are expected in the ranking of the main world tourist destinations, where Spain occupies second place.
The UNWTO therefore hopes that Tourism is expected to grow by 3% to 4% in 2020, a year in which it will benefit from major sporting and cultural events such as, for example, the Tokyo Olympics or Dubai Expo 2020respectively.
The slowdown in 2019 affected advanced economies in particular, Europe and Asia-Pacific, while the Middle East recorded the highest growth of 8%, doubling the world average, with Egypt's recovery standing out.
Despite the slowdown, Asia-Pacific continues to post above-average growth of 5%, while Europe, with a growth of 4%, which was also lower than in previous years, remains in the lead in absolute terms, with 743 million international tourists (51% of the world market).
“Mixed results” in the Americas
With a 2% rebound, the Americas “offered a mixed bag,” as while many Caribbean islands consolidated their recovery after the 2017 hurricanes, at the same time, the number of arrivals in South America fell, due in part to social and political unrest.
Although there is limited data available for Africa, which is growing by 4%, very positive results are still observed in the north of the continent (up 9%) and lower growth in the sub-Saharan region (1,5%).
El Tourism spending "maintains its strength" in a context of global economic slowdown, especially among the world's top ten source markets, where France stands out with an increase of 11%, while the United States, with an increase of 6%, leads growth in absolute terms, helped by the strength of the dollar.
China, the world's largest emitter, saw spending fall by 4%, although it had 14% more tourists in the first half of 2019, as did some large emerging markets such as Brazil and Saudi Arabia.
Carvao stressed that the number of destinations earning $1.000 billion or more from international tourism has almost doubled since 1998, from 56 to 105 in 2018, and the challenge is to "ensure that these benefits are distributed as widely as possible and that no one is left behind."
Source: Reuters
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