According to a report by the World Travel & Tourism Council, the end of 2012 will see the number of international tourists reach the one billion mark.
With the festive season round the bend, the World Travel & Tourism Council predicts that by the end of the year, International tourism will reach a record of 1 billion travelers. According to this statistics, one in every seven people in the world will cross international borders as travelers either on vacation or business purpose. This is quite a huge achievement considering traveling internationally has become an option for the middle-class just over a decade ago. Prior to that, international traveling was a luxury enjoyed by the wealthy only.
"This is an astounding milestone," David Scowsill, president of the council, said in a telephone interview. "There is an inexorable growth in the number of people who want to travel around the world."
According to the London-based council, whose members include executives of travel companies, compiles global travel data including international airport traffic and visa records, one billionth tourist will cross an international boundary by December 13, 2012.
The report also states that the two largest destinations for international travel continue to be United States and France. However, a great amount of tourists have also been attracted to smaller regions like Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and the Ivory Coast.
"I grew up watching Fess Parker on the television," Wendy Morrison, a retiree from Manchester, England, who is an ardent international traveler said in a report by Reuters. "And we decided we would pop over here and take a look."
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the top five travel destinations in the world are Paris, London, New York, Mediterranean resort Antalya, Turkey, and Singapore.
"For the US middle-class, it became routine after airline deregulation began in the late 1970s when airlines were forced to compete on prices," said David Bojanic, a professor of tourism studies at the University of Texas San Antonio.
"The inflation-adjusted cost of a plane-ticket from New York to London today is about one-fourth what it was in 1960," he said.
"Another factor is the perception that the world is a more peaceful place, even though many regional conflicts continue," said David Cortright, director of policy studies at the University of Notre Dame.
