Europe Leading the Industry in Global Tourism

The United Nations World of Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reveals that Europe has experienced the highest increase in international tourism.

According to UNWTO, from January–September, global tourism grew five percent in 2013. During this time, an increase of 41 million people traveled internationally. These numbers exceeded UNWTO’s yearly travel predictions and have provided unexpected boost in the global economy. In total, 845 million people participated in international travel from January–September. These trends were reported by destinations across the globe through international tourism receipts.

This increase in international travel is a great boost for the global economy. These trends will only continue with the expansion of timeshare resorts in Europe. Many developers are increasing the availability of timeshare in Europe, China, and Australia to the international markets.

UNWTO Secretary General, Taleb Rifai said, “International tourism continues to grow above expectations, supporting economic growth in both advanced and emerging economies and bringing much needed support to job creation, GDP and the balance of payments of many destinations.

“It is particularly encouraging to see the strong results in many European destinations, where the tourism sector is, undoubtedly, one of the engines of the economic recovery.”

The highest levels of growth came from Europe and the Asia Pacific region with increases of 6 percent each. Europe is already the world’s most internationally visited region, but with this six percent increase they are welcoming more visitors every day. Central and Eastern Europe in particular saw a seven percent increase, way above the average.

The growth seen this year is double the average growth rate since the year 2000. In fact, from 2000–2012, Europe had only seen an average increase of 2.7 percent per year. In comparison, the Americas only experienced an increase of 3 percent. More international travel was seen in North America and Central America than other segments.

It is anticipated that these numbers will continue through the rest of the year.