World Tourism Day - September 27: on the accessibility of air transport; the most visited countries in Europe!
On September 27, every year, we celebrate World Tourism Day. It all started on September 27, 1980, when an alarm was sounded about the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value.
The World Tourism Organization (WTO) has designated World Tourism Day 2021 as a day to focus on the return of the post-pandemic industry. UNWTO, as a specialized agency of the United Nations for responsible and sustainable tourism, is leading the global sector towards an inclusive recovery and growth.
"By celebrating this day, we declare our commitment that, as tourism grows, the benefits that come will be felt at every level of our broad and diverse sector, from the largest airline to the smallest family business," Zurab Pololikashvili, UNWTO Secretary.
On the other hand, UN Secretary General António Guterres stressed that the tourism sector is a significant part of the global economy, with one in ten people working in this industry or tangential to tourism.
Due to the pandemic, tourism continues to suffer significant damage. Governments have imposed travel bans and restrictions to stop the virus from spreading. In addition, many countries have temporarily suspended all non-essential (tourist) travel.
74.41% of the world's population has access to international air transport
To give you an idea, in 2018, the United Nations National Tourism Organization (WTO) reported about 1.4 billion international tourists, an initial estimate projected to be reached in 2020. In Europe alone, about 713 million were registered. international tourists. Unfortunately, in 2020, the European tourism industry registered a decrease of about 52% compared to 2019.
Among the most visited European countries we find: France, Spain, Italy; Germany. Greece ranks fifth in terms of the number of tourists reported.
As for the accessibility of air transport, globally, the results show that 74,41% of the world's population has access to international air transport. The figures fall to 62,41% in Africa and up to 90,06% in Europe. Asia has an accessibility score of 88,04%. The number is 72,99% for the Middle East and increases to 93,96% for North America and the Caribbean. The percentage of the population living at a maximum distance of 100 km from airports listed as international by ICAO or having scheduled flights to one of those international airports has been taken into account.