Tourism: a tenth of the world economy

Terrorism and epidemics now and again make a dent in tourism numbers, but the sector usually quickly rebounds and it now employs hundreds of millions and accounts for a tenth of global output.

Here are five key points about the sector, which grew 4.4 percent last year to nearly 1.2 billion people taking a trip outside of their country:

Europe (including Russia) remains the most visited region with 609 million visiting last year, followed by the Asia-Pacific region at 277 million visitors, and the Americas at 190 million.

However the number of visitors to North Africa fell by 8 percent according to data from the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

In 2014, international tourism receipts from lodging, meals, transportation and purchases hit $1.5 trillion, up from 900 billion in 2010. The Chinese were the biggest spenders, followed by Americans.

Tourism accounts for 10 percent of gross domestic product and accounts for one in 11 jobs, according to the UNWTO.

China, the United States and Britain led outbound travel growth in 2015, while Russians and Brazilians travelled less due to the economic crises in their countries.

The share of emerging markets has passed from 30 percent in 1980 to 45 percent in 2014 and should rise to 57 percent by 2030, which corresponds to an additional 1 billion international tourist arrivals.