Stats bank

VOICES "I've only been on holiday once" Eva, hospital worker, Kenya "I do dream of travelling – but I know it's nearly impossible" Najma, domestic help, India  TOURISM FACTS Less than one in 10 people are estimated to have been on an international flight China is expected to unseat France as world’s most visited country by 2020 16% of foreign trips are in East Asia – up from 1% in 1950 Sources: IATA, Worldwatch Institute

By some measures tourism is the world’s largest industry, accounting for 11% of global GDP and a similar proportion of world employment. Find out more from the charts and statistics below.


The chart represents each person’s annual share of the Earth’s resources, if they were divided up fairly among the entire population. The World Wide Fund for Nature estimates that a two-week trip to Cyprus takes up half of our annual “earthshare”.

Top 10 international tourism spenders and earners
		Spenders			Share of total %			Earners			Share of total %
		United States			14.0			United States			18.0
		Germany			10.0			Spain			6.5
		UK			7.7			France			6.3
		Japan			6.6			Italy			5.8
		France			3.6			UK			4.1
		Italy			3.2			Germany			3.7
		Canada			2.6			China			3.4
		Netherlands			2.5			Austria			2.4
		China			n/a			Canada			2.3
		Belgium/Luxembourg			n/a			Greece			1.9
		Top 10 total			50.2			Top 10 total			54.4
Source: Worldwatch Institute

The developing world has experienced a surge in tourism in recent years – but most of the top 10 earners are still in the West.