Almost all source markets reported higher tourism spending in 2017, reflecting continued strong demand for international tourism across all world regions, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.

Emerging and advanced economies fuelled growth, led by the United States which spent $12bn more on travel abroad.

China spent $8bn more, consolidating its leadership as the biggest spender in the world.

The Russian Federation spent $7bn more and Brazil $5bn more, both rebounding from weaker spending in previous years.

Strong tourism expenditure reflects enhanced connectivity, increased visa facilitation and a global economic upswing, indicated the UNWTO.

TOP-25 SOURCE MARKETS

All top-25 source markets reported higher spending on international tourism in 2017, as highlighted in the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. China consolidated its leadership as the biggest spender in travel abroad in 2017 with $258bn in expenditure (+5% in local currency).

The other three BRIC economies all substantially increased expenditure in 2017. The Russian Federation (+13%) rebounded after a few years of declines to reach $31bn, climbing three places to re-enter the top-10 at number eight.

Brazil (+20%) also recovered strongly and moved up eight places to number 16 with $19bn in expenditure. India continued its rise with 9% growth in spending to $18bn and moved up four places in the ranking to 17th.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “Emerging economies play a key role in tourism development and we are very pleased to see the rebound of the Russian Federation and Brazil and the ongoing rise of India, as these key emerging outbound markets contribute to growth and market diversification in many destinations.”

Advanced economies also performed robustly in 2017, led by the United States (+9%), the world’s second largest outbound market. US travellers spent $12bn more on international tourism totalling $135bn. Expenditure from Germany (third largest market) and the United Kingdom (fourth largest market) both increased 3% and from France (fifth largest market) 1%.

Australia (sixth largest market) reported +7% growth and Canada (seventh largest market) a 9% increase. Completing the top-10 are the Republic of Korea (ninth largest market) where expenditure grew +9% and Italy (10th largest market) where it increased +6%.

Beyond the top-10, tourism spending also grew notably in Sweden (+14%) and Spain (+12%).

These strong results in outbound tourism are consistent with the +7% increase in international tourist arrivals in 2017. Demand for travel was particularly high in Europe, where arrivals increased +8% last year.