World tourism is continuing to grow, but at a notable slower pace according to new figures from the UN’s World Tourism Organization, which marked a 4% growth last year, compared to 6% in 2018 and 7% in 2017.
Both sets of figures represent unusual elements; 2017 and 2018 marked the return of European and other tourists to sunny areas in Turkey and Egypt after a sharp drop over security concerns. 2019 figures reflect uncertainty in the UK over Brexit, a cooling world economy, and near the end of the year, major protests for weeks at a time in Hong Kong and France. In 2016, growth was also 4%.
Despite the coming year having a number of major tourist-generating events, including the Summer Olympics in Japan, UNWTO only expects a growth of 3-4% for 2020; it could drop even lower if the growing coronavirus outbreak in China disrupts tourism plans widely.
As for where everyone is going, the organization is predicting that 2019 will see no change in ranking among the top three tourist favorites, France, Spain and the U.S.
