Long- and Short-Term Trends and Patterns in International Tourism

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Tourism is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing industry; around the world, the number of international tourists is expected to rise as high as 1 billion a year. International tourists are people who would travel to any country other than that in which they are residing in at the current moment for a period of time not exceeding 12 months. The main purpose of their visit would be to undertake some kind of activity for leisure and stay at least one night in a collective or private accommodation in the country they are visiting. From the 1990s to 2010, the international tourist arrivals almost doubled in size and it is still expected to grow. However, it is not always a stable rise, due to events like recession, security, low cost airlines, new markets, external pressures, etc., international tourism does have its highs and lows. In the long term, international tourism has steadily continued to rise, over the past 6 decades, it has bloomed from 25 million in 1950 to the current of 940 million. The number one continent that is contributing the most tourists to this massive number is Europe, with more than 500 million international tourist arrivals in 2012. The other continents contribute less than half of Europe’s number, with Africa as little as 50 million. In the order of tourism growth over the 60 years, Europe would come first, with the only decline from 2008 to 2009, then Asia and Pacific, with dips from 2002 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2009, then comes Americas, Middle East and lastly, Africa, with the least tourist growth. Altogether, the world’s international tourist arrivals has soared to great heights over the years. The long term pattern and trend of international tourism occurs because of a number of factors. Firstly being the increase in affluence in many of the MEDCs. Since 1950, people have become wealthier with more disposable income and

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