[ UNWTO ] Why Tourism?, 왜 관광인가

Tourism – an Economic and Social Phenomenon

Over the decades, tourism has experienced continued growth and deepening ‎diversification to become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. ‎Modern tourism is closely linked to development and encompasses a growing number ‎of new destinations. These dynamics have turned tourism into a key driver for socio-‎economic progress.‎

Today, the business volume of tourism equals or even surpasses that of oil exports, ‎food products or automobiles. Tourism has become one of the major players in ‎international commerce, and represents at the same time one of the main income ‎sources for many developing countries. This growth goes hand in hand with an ‎increasing diversification and competition among destinations.‎

This global spread of tourism in industrialised and developed states has produced ‎economic and employment benefits in many related sectors - from construction to ‎agriculture or telecommunications.‎

The contribution of tourism to economic well-being depends on the quality and the ‎revenues of the tourism offer. UNWTO assists destinations in their sustainable ‎positioning in ever more complex national and international markets. As the UN agency ‎dedicated to tourism, UNWTO points out that particularly developing countries stand to ‎benefit from sustainable tourism and acts to help make this a reality.‎

Key numbers:‎

The contribution of tourism to economic activity worldwide is estimated at some 5%. Tourism's contribution to employment tends to be slightly higher relatively and is estimated in the order of 6-7% of the overall number of jobs worldwide (direct and indirect).
From 1950 to 2010, international tourism arrivals expanded at an annual rate of ‎‎6.2%, growing from 25 million to 940 million.‎
The income generated by these arrivals grew at an even stronger rate reaching around ‎US$ 919 billion (€ 693 billion) in 2010.‎
While in 1950 the top 15 destinations absorbed 88% of international arrivals, in ‎‎1970 the proportion was 75% and 55% in 2010, reflecting the ‎emergence of new destinations, many of them in developing countries.‎
As growth has been particularly fast in the world's emerging regions, the share in international tourist arrivals received by emerging and developing countries has steadily risen, from 32% in 1990 to 47% in 2010.
Current developments & forecasts:‎

International tourist arrivals grew by nearly 7% in 2010 to 940 million;
In 2010, international tourism generated US$ 919 billion (€ 693 billion) in export earnings;
UNWTO forecasts a growth in international tourist arrivals of between 4% and 5% in 2011.