International tourism grew by four percent in 2012, reaching $1075 billion, according to Hotel News Resource. The growth is equal to the four percent increase in international tourist arrivals, which reached 1035 million in 2012.
Additionally, $219 billion was recorded in receipts from international passenger transport, which brings the total in exports generated by international tourism in 2012 to $1.3 trillion.
The increase of four percent is in real terms from $1042 billion in 2011, according to the latest United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) World Tourism Barometer.
"It is encouraging to see that the growth in international tourist arrivals was equaled by a comparable increase in spending in spite of continued economic challenges," UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai said. "Considering that tourism is a key export for many economies around the world, this result is good news as it provides foreign reserves to destinations, and contributes to job creation in tourism as well as in related economic sectors."
The Americas recorded the largest increase in receipts, followed by Asia and the Pacific, Africa and Europe. Travel and tourism receipts are still down in the Middle East, yet even there report a steady improvement compared to the decline they suffered in 2011.
Europe received $457 billion in tourism earnings, the equivalent to 43 percent of the world's total tourism receipts and the largest share by region.
Destinations in Asia and the Pacific accounted for 30 percent of international tourism receipts and the Americas accounted for twenty percent.
The Middle East had total tourism receipts that reached $47 billion and Africa, with a three percent share, received $34 billion.
Tourism also generates export earnings through international passenger transport. This amounted to $219 billion in 2012, bringing the total receipts generated by international tourism up to $1.3 trillion, or an average of $3.5 billion a day.
International tourism accounts for 30 percent of the world's exports of services and six percent of overall exports of goods and services. It ranks fifth after fuel, chemicals, food and automotive products, while ranking first in many developing countries.
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