Tourism is the world's largest industry
Tourism is the world's largest industry on the basis of its contribution to global gross domestic product (GDP). It generates about 10% of total world GDP (gross domestic product) and employs over 10% of the global workforce, and it's still growing.

International tourism generates over USD 2 billion a day
Worldwide, international tourism receipts are estimated at USD 680 billion in 2005. In 2006 this amount exceeded USD 700 billion.

International Tourist Arrivals
In 2005 international tourist arrivals worldwide beat all expectations exceeding 800 million and achieving an alltime record. However, in 2006 the world tourism grew again at 4.5% up to 842 million. This is almost a half percentage point above the longterm average annual growth rate of 4.1%.

Inbound tourism by purpose of visit, 2005
In 2005, the majority of international tourist arrivals corresponded to trips for the purpose of leisure, recreation and holidays (50%). Business travel accounted for some 16 % of the total and another 26% consisted of travel for other motives, such as visiting friends and relatives (VFR), religious purposes/pilgrimages, health treatment, etc. For the remaining 8% of arrivals the purpose of visit was not specified.

Inbound tourism by means of transport, 2005
Just about half of all international tourists arrived over land by road (43%) or rail (5%) to their destination in 2005. Air transport represented 45% of arrivals and transport over water accounted for 7%.

International Tourism Top Spenders
In 2005, Germany kept the first position in the ranking of the world’s top tourism spenders. the United States maintained the second post. The United Kingdom held steady at the number 3 spot, and so did Japan, France and Italy as the 4th, 5th and 6th biggest source markets in terms of international tourism expenditure. The last four positions are occupied by the emerging source markets of China and the Russian Federation, and the more traditional source markets of Canada and the Netherlands.

Long-term Prospects
"Tourism 2020 Vision" is the World Tourism Organization’s long-term forecast and assessment of the development of tourism up to the first 20 years of the new millennium. An essential outcome of the "Tourism 2020 Vision" are quantitative forecasts covering a 25 years period, with 1995 as base year and forecasts for 2010 and 2020.
UNWTO’s "Tourism 2020 Vision" forecasts that international arrivals are expected to reach nearly 1.6 billion by the year 2020. Of these worldwide arrivals in 2020, 1.2 billion will be intraregional and 378 million will
be long-haul travellers.

Industry organisations:
World Tourism Organisation (WTO): based in Madrid and created by the United Nations, the WTO consists of a mix of 130-plus governments and 350 affiliated private enterprises. Compiles industry statistics and market trends.
World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC): A trade association based in Brussels and London and made up of around 70 chief executives of major airlines, hotel chains, cruise lines and catering companies.

Sources: WTO_Highlights_2006 336.9 Kb, Barometer_February_2007 76.8 Kb