2017 Was Another Record Year in the Travel Industry

Last year was another record year for the travel industry with international tourist arrivals increasing seven percent around the world.

That’s the highest increase since 2010, according to new data released by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

MORE Features & Advice

What You Need to Know for Traveling to Europe This Year

Top Travel Deals for July

Photo Highlights and Tips From an Iceland Road Trip

Growth in arrivals was not the only notable increase last year. There was also significant upward movement in exports generated by tourism, which reached $1.6 trillion in 2017, making tourism the world’s third-largest export sector.

The UNWTO’s “Tourism Highlights 2018 Edition” showed that international tourist arrivals reached a total of 1,323 million in 2017, some 84 million more than the previous year and a new record.

The sector has now seen uninterrupted growth in arrivals for eight straight years. The record growth of 2017 was led by the regions of Europe and Africa, which saw increases in arrivals of eight percent and nine percent, respectively.

International tourism receipts also increased in 2017, by five percent. In addition to the $1.3 trillion in receipts that destinations earned, international tourism generated another $240 billion from international passenger transport taken by non-residents, resulting in total tourism exports of about $1.6 trillion.

UNWTO says the strong 2017 results were driven by sustained travel demand for destinations across all world regions, including a firm recovery by those that have suffered from security challenges in recent years.

There was also strong outbound demand from virtually all source markets, including rebounds from major emerging economies such as Brazil and the Russian Federation.

The new report also points out that China continues to lead global outbound travel, a trend that has been well-known for several years now. Chinese travelers spent $258 billion on international tourism in 2017. That’s almost one-fifth of the world’s total tourism spending for the year.

As for the top markets and destinations in 2017, Spain rose to become the world’s second most-visited destination in terms of international arrivals, after France. Japan entered the top ten in tourism earnings in tenth place after six straight years of double-digit growth. The Russian Federation reentered the top ten of world spenders at eighth place.

Early data for 2018 shows the industry’s growth continuing, revealing a year-on-year increase of six percent in arrivals between January and April.