According to the UN Tourism, Europeans travel more than those from all other regions combined accounting, for a whopping 52.8 percent of all outbound tourists. Asia and the Pacific (21 percent) and the Americas (16 percent) make up most of the remaining outbound market, with the Middle East (3.8 percent) and Africa (2.9 percent) rounding out the field.
It’s not surprising that Europe landed in the number one spot, but it’s eye-opening that more Europeans travel than people from the rest of the world combined. Despite Asia’s massive population advantage, it’s still interesting that the Americas fell behind it. The Americas had more outbound tourists from 1990 to 2005, but the Asia-Pacific region has maintained the lead since then. That said, it’s nice to see that all regions have seen significant gains in overall outbound tourists over the past two decades.
(Statistics were compiled in 2009)
Minor updates and edits were made from the original article.
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Gennaro Salamone is the founder and editor of Enduring Wanderlust. Please contact him with questions, comments or inquiries regarding article or photograph submissions.