Global tourists to top 1 billion
MEXICO CITY – More than one billion tourists will take a trip this year crossing an international boundary, a threshold never before reached, UN officials told a meeting tourism ministers in Mexico this week.
“We will have more than a billion tourists that means one-seventh of humanity. This has never happened in history,” said Taleb Rifai, head of the UN World Tourism Organization Tuesday speaking to tourism ministers from the G20 countries.
The number of international tourist arrivals is expected to rise in 2012 by 3.0-4.0 percent, reaching the historic one billion mark by the end of the year, according to WTO figures, rising from some 980 million tourist arrivals recorded in 2011.
International tourism grew by 5.7 percent in the first two months of 2012, the agency said, surpassing 131 million in January and February, up from 124 million in the same period last year.
The ministerial meeting, in the resort town of Merida in Mexico’s Yucatan, continues focusing on strategies to combat barriers to the free movement of tourists around the world, reports AFP.
According to other reports, tourism ministers of 20 major developed and emerging economies in the world discussed to strengthen tourism in generating employment.The Fourth Ministerial Meeting of Tourism (T20), held on 15 and 16 May, also has the objective of defining proposals for mobility of visitors, said the Ministry of Tourism of Mexico in a statement.
Mexican Secretary of the Department, Gloria Guevara hoped the meeting will benefit Mexico’s image internationally, and will be an opportunity to show the world riches as the Mundo Maya tourism and national cuisine, declared World Heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The delegates from – T20 Germany, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, United States, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, UK, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and the European Union participated in the conference .
Also involved are the World Tourism Organization (WTO), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Labour Organization (ILO), International Air Transport Association (IATA) and International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO).
