International tourism growth beat experts’ expectations for the first ten months of the year.
The number of international tourists grew 5 percent through the first 10 months of the year, exceeding theUnited Nations World Tourism Organization’s expectation of 4.5 percent growth, the organization confirmed this week. A total 978 million international tourists crossed borders last year, 45 million more than in the same period of 2013.
The UNWTO reports that tourism is on track to hit a new record by the end of 2014 with more than 1.1 billion international tourists.
A record was previously set in 2013 when 1.087 billion tourists crossed borders, a 5 percent increase compared with 2012.
“In view of this trend, international tourism is set to end 2014 with record numbers,” UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai said in a statement.
“These are remarkable results considering that different parts of the world continue to face significant geopolitical and health challenges, while the global economic recovery remains rather fragile and uneven.”
The U.S. is also on track to reach a record number of visitor arrivals in 2014, according to data published by the U.S. Department of Commerce this week. For the first nine months of 2014, visitation increased seven percent to 56.4 million compared to last year.
Arrival statistics for the full year will be released on January 2015.
Growth by region for the first 10 months of the year is outlined below:
| Region | 2014 Growth |
|---|---|
| Americas | 8% |
| Asia and the Pacific | 5% |
| Europe | 4% |
| Middle East | 4% |
| Africa | 3% |
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