ABSTRACT
If one follows the line taken by many governments, institutions and public officials then tourism is a major international industry. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO 2007a) reported under the heading ‘Another record year for world tourism’ that there were 842 million international tourism arrivals in 2006 (an increase of 36 million or 4.5 per cent on the previous year) and that the world is well on the way to reaching
Table 1.1 International tourism arrivals and forecasts, 1950-2020
Year World Africa Americas Asia & Pacific Europe Middle East
1950 25.3 0.5 7.5 0.2 16.8 0.2 1960 69.3 0.8 16.7 0.9 50.4 0.6 1965 112.9 1.4 23.2 2.1 83.7 2.4 1970 165.8 2.4 42.3 6.2 113.0 1.9 1975 222.3 4.7 50.0 10.2 153.9 3.5 1980 278.1 7.2 62.3 23.0 178.5 7.1 1985 320.1 9.7 65.1 32.9 204.3 8.1 1990 439.5 15.2 92.8 56.2 265.8 9.6 1995 540.6 20.4 109.0 82.4 315.0 13.7 2000 687.0 28.3 128.1 110.5 395.9 24.2 2005 806.8 37.3 133.5 155.4 441.5 39.0
Forecast 2010 1006 47 190 195 527 36 2020 1561 77 282 397 717 69
the UNWTO’s 2020 vision forecast/target of 1.6 billion international arrivals in 2020 (Table 1.1). In addition, the tourism sector was touted as ‘underscoring the links to economic progress’while ‘as one of the most dynamic economic sectors, tourism has a key role to play among the instruments to fight against poverty, thus becoming a primary tool for sustainable development’ (UNWTO 2007a: no pages). The economic dimensions of tourism are also significant on an international basis. Indeed, they are of orders of magnitude that are difficult to imagine or comprehend for most people. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC 2007) forecasts for the world travel and tourism industry in 2007:
• Travel and tourism demand is expected to generate US$7,060 billion of economic activity worldwide, growing to US$13,231 billion by 2017.
