ABSTRACT
Tourism has grown immensely over the past 60 years. From 1950 to 2005, international arrivals have grown by 6.5 per cent per year, i.e. from an estimated 25 million in 2050 to 806 million in 2005 (Figure 1.1; UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) 2001, 2010a). In the following three years to 2008, international arrivals increased by more than 100 million to 920 million. By then, however, the global financial crisis set a stop to the strong growth trend, and arrivals declined by 4 per cent in 2009 to 880 million (estimate, UNWTO 2010b). However, UNWTO (2010b) projects that the world economic system will stabilize and that growth will resume at 3-4 per cent in international tourist arrivals in 2010 to reach 1.6 billion in 2020 (UNWTO 2001).
