World Tourism Statistics 2010

Some countries host more overseas visitors, tourists and business professional than others. Major research findings on international tourism in 2010, according to the World Tourism Organization, include:-

- The top 10 most visited countries were 1) France 2) USA 3) China and 4) Spain 5)Italy 6)UK 7) Turkey 8)Germany 9) Malaysia and 10)Mexico.

-  International tourist rebounded strongly, with arrivals up 6.6 percent and reached 940 million

- International tourism receipts are estimated to have reached US$ 919 billion worldwide (693 billion euros), up from US$ 851 billion (610 billion euros) in 2009, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 4.7%.

- The increase more than offset the decline caused by the economic downturn, with an additional 23 million arrivals over the former peak year of 2008.

- Travel for leisure, recreation and holidays accounted for just over half of all international tourist arrivals.
- As a reflection of the economic conditions, recovery was particularly strong in emerging economies, where arrivals grew faster (+8%) than in advanced ones (+5%).

- China became the world’s third biggest tourism spender.

- Travel for leisure, recreation and holidays accounted for just over half of all international tourist arrivals (51% or 480 million arrivals).

- Some 15% of international tourists reported travelling for business and professional purposes and another 27% travelled for other purposes, such as visiting friends and relatives (VFR), religious reasons and pilgrimages, health treatment, etc.

- Slightly over half of travellers arrived at their destination by air transport (51%) in 2010, while the remainder travelled over the surface (49%) – whether by road (41%), rail (2%), or over water (6%). Over time, the trend has been for air transport to grow at a faster pace than surface transport, so the share of air transport is gradually increasing.

- All regions posted positive growth in real terms, with the exception of Europe (-0.4%). The Middle East (+14%) and Asia and the Pacific (+13%) showed the strongest growth, while the Americas (+5%) was close to the worldwide average and Africa grew (+3%) somewhat slower.