World tourist arrivals to increase 4 to 5 percent in 2011: UNWTO

International tourist arrivals will increase by four to five percent in 2011, said an official with the World Tourism Organization of the United Nations (UNWTO) on Friday in north Tianjin Municipality.

Under the current global economic environment, nations around the world are recovering at various of speeds through the facilitation of emerging economies, and tourism is becoming one of the most important economic supports, said Taleb Rifai, the secretary-general with the UNWTO.

In the previous months of 2011, global tourist arrivals have increased by five percent, and despite the challenges ahead, the global tourism industry is still developing steadily, Rifai said while attending the China Tourism Industries Expo.

In 2010, the global tourism industry rebounded sharply from the previous year, with 940 billion tourist arrivals, a record increase of over 7 percent compared to 2009. Global tourism revenue reached 919 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, according to statistics from the UNWTO.

Source - xinhuanet