World Tourism is heading for a record performance, with the number of holiday-makers expected to hit nearly 900 million this year.
PARIS: The World Tourism Organisation convenes this week at a time when the tourism sector is heading for a record performance, with the number of holiday-makers expected to hit nearly 900 million this year, and as China is becoming a much favored destination.
The organisation, a United Nations body, now foresees a 5.7 percent increase in 2007 in the number of tourists visiting a foreign country compared with 2006, up from a 4.0 percent rise predicted in January.
After sustaining a sharp slowdown following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, the sector finally managed to grow again in 2004 and has continued to flourish despite natural disasters, the SARS epidemic, terrorism, air crashes and surging oil prices.
Tourism was worth 733 billion dollars (584 billion euros) in 2006, thanks to spending by some 846 million tourists, half of whom went to Europe.
The 153-member World Tourism Organisation general assembly, held every two years, opens November 23 and runs to the 29th in the northern Colombian city of Cartagena, where 800 delegates from 120 countries are to discuss approaches to dealing with crises in the sector, as well as global warming and high energy prices.
While France last year held on to its first place in preferred tourism destinations, attracting 79.1 million foreign visitors, the United States topped the table in tourism earnings, with 85.7 billion dollars, followed by Spain, 51.1 billion. Tourists spent 42.9 billion dollars in France in 2006.
"At the end of the 1980s France was well ahead of Spain in tourism earnings but now lags behind," said organisation secretary general Francesco Frangialli.
China, a rising tourism powerhouse that last year drew 49.6 million foreign visitors, could unseat France as the number one holiday venue well before 2020, the date given until now by the organisation.
"China has already passed Italy and this year or next it will pass the United States and will be ahead of Spain in two or three years," Frangialli said.
"France has a little more breathing room but will probably be overtaken around 2015 rather than 2020."
At the same time, 100 million Chinese tourists are expected to travel abroad in 2020, up from just 34 million last year, according to the tourism body.
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