Dubai: The United Nation World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) forecasts international tourism will grow between three and four per cent globally in 2015.
Tourism in the Middle East is expected to grow between two to five per cent, according to the WTO.
These figures was released on Tuesday at the second day of Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, by Talib Rifai, Secretary General of WTO during a ministerial round-table.
He also said that international tourism grew by 4.4 per cent to reach a new record of 1,135 million tourists travelling to an international destination in a single year.
“Recent data from UNWTO shows that a record of $1.5 trillion was generated by international tourism in 2014 — up 3.7 per cent over the previous year,” he said.
“Last year was yet another outstanding year for our sector. It is the fifth straight year of growth for our sector since the global economic crisis,” Rifai said.
He also said that after three consecutive years of decline, 2014 also saw clear signs of recovery in the Middle East region.
International tourist arrivals to the Middle East grew four per cent, showing good results in most destinations, bringing up the total to 50 million. North Africa a one per cent increase.
