Our island has all the backgrounds to become a global tourist destination. Specifically, the World Tourism Organization pointed out that our island, with a 20% increase in its arrivals, recorded strong results due to its reputation as a safe destination.
Overall, global tourism grew by 3,9% with 1,235 billion international arrivals. In absolute terms, the above performance means that in 2016 an additional 50 million tourists traveled to another country in the world.
According to data from the World Tourism Organization, which PASYXE cites in its annual report, revenues from tourism worldwide reached in 2015 € 1.076 trillion. showing an increase of 4,1% compared to 2014. It should be noted that the revenues of 2016 have not been announced to date.
Europe, despite its fragile economy, with a 2% increase in arrivals (615 million) remained firmly in first place, while of the additional 47 million tourists who traveled in 2016 around the world, Asia benefited the lion's share and the Pacific which welcomed about 24 million.
Cyprus and world tourism
Last year was the seventh in a row for global tourism in the midst of a crisis, which is growing by more than 4% each year since the outbreak of the 2010 financial crisis. Demand for travel was on the rise in 2016 worldwide but significant variations from country to country were recorded.
According to the UNWTO, Europe - the largest tourist destination in the world, with a 51% share of international tourist arrivals - in 2016 (with 615 million arrivals) recorded an increase of 2%, following six consecutive years of growth. The modest growth of 2016 was mainly due to security issues in a number of destinations, but also due to the decrease in tourists from Russia.
The main destinations in Northern Europe with a positive sign were Iceland (+ 39%), Norway (+ 12%), Ireland (+ 11%), Sweden (+ 7%) and Denmark (+ 4%), while Finland recovered with a 6% increase in its arrivals (-4% in 2015) mainly due to investments made in the tourism sector and the increase in visits from the Chinese market.
Among the main destinations in Central and Eastern Europe, the best performance was achieved by Slovakia (+ 17%), Bulgaria (+ 14%), Romania (+ 11%), Lithuania (+ 9%), as well as Hungary , the Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia with + 7% each. Russia, the region's largest destination, saw a 9% drop in tourists due to a drop in arrivals from the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe.
In the main destinations of Western Europe (-0,3%), the Netherlands (+ 6%) and Austria (+ 5%) had the best performances, while Germany had an increase of only + 2%. Belgium (-13%) had a significant drop in arrivals due to the terrorist attacks in Brussels, as did Switzerland (-1%). France, the world's first tourist destination, saw a 4% drop due to terrorist attacks, airport strikes and floods in Paris.
Asia and Pacific Ocean
"Destinations of the future" or "emerging", as considered in Asia and the Pacific, recorded an 8,6% increase in their arrivals in 2016 (308,6 million arrivals). The destination with the best arrivals results was Oceania which had a 10% increase in its arrivals. It was followed by Northeast Asia with a 9% increase and the main destinations being the Republic of Korea (+ 30% and Japan (+ 22%), while China - the largest destination in the region - had a 4% increase in arrivals. Asia recorded a 9% increase with the main destinations being Sri Lanka (+ 14%), India (+ 11%) and the Maldives (+ 4%).
America
America recorded a 4% increase in arrivals in 2016 (200,2 million arrivals), while of its destinations, North America, which is considered the strongest "player" on the continent, recorded only a 3% increase in its arrivals and with main destinations Canada (+ 11%) and Mexico (+ 9%). The largest destination in the region, the USA (which absorbs 40% of the arrivals of the whole continent), recorded a decrease of 2%. Central America had a 6% increase in its arrivals and with its main destinations Belize (+ 13%), Costa Rica (+ 10%) and Guatemala (+ 8%). South America also had a 6% increase in arrivals, while its destinations that stood out were Chile (+ 26%), Brazil (+ 5%) due to the Rio Olympics and Paralympics, Colombia (+ 11%) and Uruguay (+ 10%).
Africa
Africa recorded an increase of 8% in its arrivals (58 million arrivals). One of its main destinations, North Africa, recorded an increase of 3% due to the recovery of Tunisia (+ 7%) - after a decrease of 25% in 2015. Morocco also had an increase (+ 2%) on his arrivals.
Μέση Ανατολή
The Middle East again recorded a decrease in arrivals in 2016 of 4% (54 million arrivals). The main destinations in the region were Lebanon and Oman (+ 11% each), Dubai (+ 5%) and Jordan (+ 2%). At the same time, Egypt has again seen a sharp decline due to new terrorist attacks and negative travel instructions issued by major sources of its purchases.
Europe is gaining tourists
According to the UNWTO on the international tourism map, 2016 showed that positive results were recorded on all continents. Europe, despite its fragile economy, with a 2% increase in arrivals (615 million) exceeded forecasts and remained firmly in first place, Asia and the Pacific with 8,6% growth (308,6 million) were in second America with 3,9% increase (200,2 million) in third place, Africa with 8,2% increase (57,8 million) in fourth place, followed by the Middle East with 4% decrease (53,6, 47 million) in fifth place. Of the additional 2016 million tourists who traveled around the world in 24, the lion's share benefited Asia and the Pacific, which welcomed about 12 million, Europe 7,5 million, followed by America with 4 million tourists and Africa with XNUMX million tourists.
UNWTO: Vote in Cyprus for security reasons
In Europe and based on UNWTO data for 2016, the destinations that showed the best results were Northern Europe and Central and Eastern Europe which had an increase of 6% and 4% in their arrivals respectively, followed by Southern and Mediterranean Europe, which had an increase of only 1%, while Western Europe showed a marginal decrease of 0,3% in its arrivals. Among the main destinations in Southern and Mediterranean Europe, Portugal (+ 13%), Malta (+ 10%), Croatia (+ 9%), Greece (+ 5%) and Italy (+4) achieved excellent results. %).
Spain, the region's largest tourist destination, the second largest in Europe and the third largest in the world, recorded a 10% increase - with an additional 7 million arrivals - to 75,6 million tourists. In contrast, Europe's fourth-largest destination, Turkey, saw a significant drop in arrivals of 29% due to terrorism, a failed coup and a drop in Russian tourists.
The UNWTO, referring to Cyprus, pointed out that with the + 20% increase in its arrivals in 2016, it recorded strong results due to its reputation as a safe destination, supported by its strengthened air connections.
Source: Phileleftheros / Dimitra Landou