Yahoo – AFP,
15 January 2018
Spain is expected to replace the United States as the world's second tourism destination while France has retained the top spot, the UN World Tourism Organization said Monday.
Catalonia has remained a tourism magnet despite a terror attack in August and a political crisis over independence |
Spain is expected to replace the United States as the world's second tourism destination while France has retained the top spot, the UN World Tourism Organization said Monday.
"It is
expected" that Spain will take the second position with some 82 million
visitors last year, UNWTO chief Zurab Pololikashvili told reporters, adding
however that definitive figures would be published in the spring.
He did not
give any details about the United States, nor did he explain why Spain took the
second spot despite a terror attack in August and a highly mediatised
independence crisis in tourism magnet Catalonia.
John
Kester, head of tourism trends at the UN agency, added that "everything
indicates" that France would retain its top spot in 2017 -- a good year
for the industry as the number of global tourists leapt seven percent on 2016,
the biggest increase in seven years.
Europe was
the star of the show as it attracted a large number of visitors, up eight
percent from the previous year, lured in particular by the Mediterranean's sea
and sun.
This
contrasts sharply with 2016 figures that saw security fears hit visitor
arrivals in Europe.
"We do
see that demand for European destinations has been very strong," said
Kester.
"We
also see important recovery in France," he added, without giving further
details about a country that was hard hit by extremist attacks.
Spain also
suffered a deadly jihadist attack in August in Catalonia, the same region whose
leaders tried unsuccessfully to break away from Spain, triggering a major
crisis that shook Europe.
And while
the political crisis sparked a drop in visitor numbers to the northeastern
region, it does not appear to have dented overall tourist figures for Spain in
2017.
In 2016,
Spain welcomed 75.3 million visitors, just behind the United States with 75.6
million, while France -- despite its own terror woes -- easily remained the
world leader with 82.6 million visitors, according to the UNWTO.
Spain is set to replace the US as the world's second tourism destination while France has retained the top spot the UN World Tourism Organization says https://t.co/2PINqZNtx3 pic.twitter.com/D4SRqXUEKU— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 15, 2018
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