World travel hits 1 billion tourists | Bangkok Post: breakingnews

World travel hits 1 billion tourists

Published: 29 Jan 2013 at 18.44
Online news:

MADRID - International tourist arrivals exceeded one billion for the first time last year despite ongoing global economic uncertainty, and numbers will rise further in 2013, a UN body said on Tuesday.

Holiday-makers at the seaside town of Beidaihe, east of Beijing, last summer. International tourist arrivals surpassed one billion for the first time last year, with the Asia-Pacific region posting the biggest increase in foreign visitors, and numbers will rise further in 2013, a UN body said Tuesday.

The number of arrivals grew by 4.0 percent to 1.035 billion in 2012, up from 996 million in 2011, the Spain-based United Nations World Tourism Organisation said in an annual survey.

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frogmarch
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Discussion 3 : 31 Jan 2013 at 17.213
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Tourists are kamikazes now.
Wow. One billion tourists are 15% of planet earth population. It’s equal to the total world unemployables. Global warming, recessions, unemployment and financial scam are the main factor for MAN to quit saving and go to see the world before it is too late.
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OldThaiHand
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Discussion 2 : 30 Jan 2013 at 10.462
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I don't believe the global infrastructure can sustain the number of people who now have money to travel. You can see strains on the environment, on sites and the whole tourist industry everywhere.

It may be selfish and a bit snobbish and mean-spirited. But, I long for the days when there was decidely less riff-raff clogging up the paths and pushing and shoving to photograph every nano-second of their trip.
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upena
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Discussion 1 : 30 Jan 2013 at 09.041
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The numbers are bogus as the UNWTO counts anyone who enters another country for less than one year as a tourist.
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