ABSTRACT
The tourism and travel industry has been experiencing an extraordinary increase in international tourism in the past decade. Worldwide international travel arrivals increased from 536 million in 1995 to nearly 900 million in 2007, with a 4.1 percent average growth per year. It has been predicted that this number will reach 1.6 billion by the year 2020 (WTO, 2007). These fi gures indicate continued and signifi cant growth in international travel in the future. International travel patterns around the world have also changed in the last decade. The mature destinations, such as Europe and the Americas, show slower-than-average growth. Enormous growth is noticed in emerging markets and developing economies of Asia and the Pacifi c, the Middle East, and Africa. These regions are forecasted to record high growth in the future. The major future tourism regions will be Asia and the Pacifi c, China, India, Eastern and Central Europe, including Russia, and Latin America.
