The major potential of tourism for sustainable growth amid a continuing global expansion of the sector is in the centre of messages by the World Tourism Organization as World Tourism Day is marked on Sunday.
Tourism has also seen a steady rise in Slovenia, with record figures reported for 2014 and announced for this year as well.
Last year the world saw 1.113bn tourists, who generated US$1,245bn in revenue or a tenth of the global GDP.
By 2030 the global number of tourists is expected to rise to 1.8bn and while visits to the Asian-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa are projected to contribute the most to the increase, further growth is also expected in Europe.
Half of all international tourists visited Europe last year, with the leading destinations being Spain (52.5m), Italy (51.7m) and France (46.1m). The total figure for the continent is expected to rise from 582m to 744m by 2030.
The growth trend has also been experienced by Slovenia, which saw a record 2.411m arrivals last year, led by Italian, Austrian and German tourists.
The favourite destinations in Slovenia were mountainous municipalities (27%), the capital of Ljubljana (22%) and the coastal area (15%), but the longest stays were recorded for spa municipalities where tourists stayed for 3.8 nights on average.
The figures for this year so far herald another record year, as the arrivals were up 13% in the first seven months.
A July year-on-year comparison showed an 18% increase in the number of foreign tourists and a 12% increase in the number of their overnight stays.
More than 33,000 people or 4% of the active population were employed in the tourism sector in Slovenia at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, Slovenians made 2.642m trips abroad last year. Croatia remained their top destination with 57%, followed by Austria and Italy with 6% each, Bosnia-Herzegovina (5%) and Germany (4%).
Source: The Slovenia Times
