In 2019, international tourist arrivals reached 1.5 billion, a 4% increase over 2018, consolidating a ten-year record where tourism grew faster than the world economy as a whole. Domestic tourism added a further 8.8 billion arrivals. The sector generated $1.5 trillion in exports and employed one in ten people directly or indirectly.

Tourism came to a standstill in mid-March 2020. International tourist arrivals decreased by 56 per cent in the first months of the year, with numbers in May down by 98 per cent. This translates into a loss of nearly $320 billion in exports – over three times what was lost during the whole of the 2009 global economic crisis.

The World Tourism Day is being celebrated on 27 September 2021. Tourism is one of the world’s most important economic sectors. It employs one in every ten people on Earth and provides livelihoods to hundreds of millions more. For some countries, it can represent over 20 percent of their GDP.

It allows people to experience some of the world’s cultural and natural riches and brings people closer to each other, highlighting our common humanity.