Until June traveled 440 million tourists, one increase of 4.5%. Especially remarkable is the growth of 15 per cent of South America and the decline of 12% of Middle East and North Africa. According to the World Tourism Organization, the growth of the rest of the year could moderate by the increase of the economic uncertainty. We like to travel, and we travel. We like to see world and enjoy.
And the truth is that, despite the crisis, global tourism grew 4.5 per cent in the first half of 2011 compared to the same period of the previous year. According to data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), in the first six months of this year a new record of 440 million tourists, was reached which confirms that tourism continues to consolidate the recovery began in 2010. Between January and June this year, the total number of arrivals exceeded 19 million volume registered during the same period in 2010. Tourism by regions Europe achieving better results than expected, an increase of 6%, among other reasons for redistribution the norteafricano and Middle East trips to destinations in the Mediterranean and southern Europe which advanced 7% temporary. Also helped the recovery of the northern European region (7%) and the Central European and Eastern (9%). Middle East and Africa the trend reflects decreases of 11% and 13% in Middle East and North Africa, respectively, due to the political instability in some countries of the region, as well as the slight slowdown in the growth of some Asian destinations after a very positive 2010.
However, in destinations such as Egypt, Tunisia and Japan, the decline in demand is being invested, so it calls for the continued support for these countries. The WTO believes that these countries are now fully prepared to welcome travelers from around the world. America the Americas recorded growth slightly higher than the world average of 6 per cent, being particularly notable results from South America, with a growth of 15%. Asia Comparatively, the region of Asia and the Pacific grew at a slower, 5% rate, but more than enough to consolidate the extraordinary increase of 13% that had been registered in 2010. Growth could moderate in sum, with a growth of 4.3%, advanced economies have maintained its momentum this year and are approaching the 4.8% emerging, which led the growth in international tourism in recent years. This increase in international tourist arrivals largely conforms to the initial forecast released by the WTO at the beginning of 2011, forecast that for the whole year is expected to be slightly higher than the 4%. According to the UNWTO, after a semester as encouraging, the growth of the rest of the year could moderate, since the uncertainty has been rising in recent months, reducing the development of enterprises and the confidence of consumers. In terms of international tourism revenue, given that more were affected by the crisis of 2008-2009 and that its recovery in 2010 was somewhat slower than that of arrivals, is expected to observe even an improvement this year. Source of the news: World Tourism broke record with 440 million tourists the first half despite the crisis