UNWTO Tourism Highlights, 2016 Edition

• An ever-increasing number of destinations worldwide have opened up to, and invested in tourism, turning it into a key driver of socio-economic progress through the creation of jobs and enterprises, export revenues, and infrastructure development.
• Over the past six decades, tourism has experienced continued expansion and diversification to become one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world. Many new destinations have emerged in addition to the traditional favourites of Europe and North America.
• Tourism has boasted virtually uninterrupted growth over time, despite occasional shocks, demonstrating the sector's strength and resilience. International tourist arrivals have increased from 25 million globally in 1950 to 278 million in 1980, 674 million in 2000, and 1186 million in 2015.
• Likewise, international tourism receipts earned by destinations worldwide have surged from US$ 2 billion in 1950 to US$ 104 billion in 1980, US$ 495 billion in 2000, and US$ 1260 billion in 2015.
• Tourism is a major category of international trade in services. In addition to receipts earned in destinations, international tourism also generated US$ 211 billion in exports through international passenger transport services rendered to non-residents in 2015, bringing the total value of tourism exports up to US$ 1.5 trillion, or US$ 4 billion a day on average.
• International tourism now represents 7% of the world's exports in goods and services, up from 6% in 2014, as tourism has grown faster than world trade over the past four years.
• As a worldwide export category, tourism ranks third after fuels and chemicals and ahead of food and automotive products. In many developing countries, tourism ranks as the first export sector.

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