The resilience of international tourism in an uncertain economy has been confirmed by a 4% rise in arrivals in the first eight months of the year.
The increase of 28 million over the same January-August period last year resulted in a record of 705 million tourists.
The figures from the UN World Tourism Organisation mean that global numbers are on track to reach one billion by the end of the year.
Growth slowed down in June (+2.7%) and July (+1.4%) as compared the first five months of the year (average of 5%), but recovered in August at 4%.
UNWTO expects growth of 3% to 4% for the year as a whole, while forecasting a slight slowdown in demand for 2013 (2% to 4%).
Secretary general Taleb Rifai said: “This growth is a very positive result in view of the global economic situation.
“We must remain cautious, however, as we have also observed some weaker months during the year, a trend that might return in the remainder of the year.”
Growth in the first eight months of 2013 was stronger in Asia and the Pacific and Africa, followed by the Americas and Europe. The Middle East continues to show signs of recovery, with particularly promising results in Egypt.
Emerging economies (+5%) have clearly regained the lead as compared to advanced ones (+4%).
Europe showed 3% growth, consolidating its record growth of 2011 despite ongoing economic volatility in the eurozone.
Results were above average in Central and Eastern Europe (+9%), in line with the average in Western Europe (+3%), yet comparatively weaker in Southern and Mediterranean Europe (+1%) – one of the best performing European sub-regions in 2011 – as well as in Northern Europe (+0.2%).
The UK recorded a “modest” 2% growth in tourism expenditure following a decline in recent years, while both Italy and France showed declines in the level of expenditure on travel abroad.
Among the 10 largest international tourism earners, receipts grew significantly during the first six to nine months of 2012 in Hong Kong (+17%), US (+8%), Germany (+7%), France (+5%) and the UK (+4%), according to UNWTO figures.