A Look at 2016 World Tourism Data...

A look at the 2016 World Tourism Data...

According to the 2016 tourism data released by UNWTO (the United Nations World Tourism Organization), Turkey (although the 2016 data are still pending) dropped 4 places to 10th place in terms of the number of incoming tourists. As stated in the report, in terms of tourism revenues, Turkey dropped 5 places to 17th place.

In 2016, the continent of Europe, which hosted 616 million tourists, corresponding to half of the global total, saw an increase of 13 million over the previous year.

International tourism revenues in Europe rose by 1% in real terms to reach 447 billion US Dollars (404 billion Euros), accounting for 37% of worldwide revenues.

Although positive figures were recorded in most countries in Southern and Mediterranean Europe (Portugal +13%, Spain +10%, Croatia +9%, Greece +5%), growth in the region was recorded at +1% due to the sharp decline in Turkey pulling the average down.

In international tourism expenditure, spending by Chinese travelers increased by 12% in 2016 to reach 261 billion US Dollars, while the number of Chinese tourists rose by 6% to reach 135 million in 2016. Tourism expenditure from the USA, the world's second-largest source market, increased by 8% in 2016 to reach 124 billion US Dollars.

* The number of international tourists worldwide increased by 3.9% (46 million) in 2016 compared to the previous year, reaching 1.23 billion.

* International tourism revenues increased by 2.6% to reach 1,220 billion dollars.

* Tourism is the most important sector in the services category of international trade. In addition to the revenue generated in destinations, international tourism provided an additional 216 billion dollars in exports in 2016 through international passenger transport services for non-residents, bringing the total value of tourism exports to 1.4 trillion dollars, or an average of 4 billion US dollars per day.

* International tourism represents 7% of the world's exports of goods and services in 2016, up 1 percentage point from the previous year.

* As a worldwide export category, tourism ranks third in exports after chemicals and fuels, surpassing automotive and food. In many developing countries, tourism is the leading export-generating sector.

For the full report; http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284419029