Tourism in different countries. Papiryan G.A. Marketing in tourism. Japan and South Korea

Introduction
1. The concept of "tourism"
2. Types of tourism
3. International tourism
4. Main trends in the development of international tourism
5. International tourism in Russia
Conclusion
List of sources used

Introduction

Tourism is one of the largest and dynamic sectors of the economy. The high rates of its development, large volumes of foreign exchange earnings actively influence various sectors of the economy, which contributes to the formation of its own tourism industry. The tourism sector accounts for about 6% of the world's gross domestic product, 7% of global investment, every 16th job, 11% of global consumer spending. Thus, today it is impossible not to notice the huge impact that the tourism industry has on the world economy. In many countries of the world, tourism is developing as a system that provides all the opportunities to get acquainted with the history, culture, customs, spiritual and religious values ​​​​of a given country and its people, and generates income for the treasury. In addition to a significant source of income, tourism is also one of the powerful factors in strengthening the prestige of the country, the growth of its importance in the eyes of the world community and ordinary citizens.

Tourism activity in various countries is an important source of improving the welfare of the state. In 1995, the United States received $58 billion from the sale of tourist services to foreign citizens, France and Italy - $27 billion each, Spain - $25 billion.

In Russia, the tourism business is developing with a predominant focus on outbound travel. The overwhelming majority of travel companies operating in our country prefer to send their compatriots abroad, and only a small part of them work to attract guests to the Russian Federation - i.e. everything is done in such a way that the capital from the tourism business floats abroad. What is the picture of the international market of tourist services now, how is it changing in the future? In the current conditions, these questions seem to be relevant, which is why I chose the topic of this essay.

1. The concept of "tourism"

Definition of tourism

Tourism is a type of travel and covers a circle of people traveling and staying in places outside their usual environment, for the purpose of recreation, business or other purposes. At first glance, the concept of “tourism” is accessible to each of us, since we all made trips somewhere, read articles about tourism in newspapers, watched TV shows about travel, and when planning our holidays, we used the advice and services of travel agents. However, for scientific and educational purposes, it is very important to determine the relationship between the constituent elements of tourism as a branch of the national economy. Although various interpretations of this concept have appeared in the process of tourism development, the following criteria are of particular importance in determining this phenomenon:

Change of location. In this case, we are talking about a trip that is carried out to a place that is outside the usual environment. However, people who make daily trips between home and place of work or study cannot be considered tourists. these trips do not enter outside of their usual environment.

Stay elsewhere. The main condition here is that the place of stay should not be a place of permanent or long-term residence. In addition, it should not be related to labor activity (wage). This nuance should be taken into account, therefore they are classified as tourism. Another condition is that travelers must not stay in the place they visit for 12 consecutive months or more. A person who stays or plans to stay for one year or more in a certain place is considered a permanent resident from the point of view of tourism and therefore cannot be called a tourist.

Remuneration from a source in the place visited. The essence of this criterion is that the main purpose of the trip should not be the implementation of activities paid from a source in the place visited. Any person entering a country for work paid from a source in that country is considered a migrant and not a tourist to that country. This applies not only to international tourism, but also to tourism within one country. Every person traveling to another location within the same country (or to another country) to carry out activities paid from a source in that place (country) is not considered a tourist of that place.

These three criteria, underlying the definition of tourism, are basic. At the same time, there are special categories of tourists for whom these criteria are still insufficient - these are refugees, nomads, prisoners, transit passengers who do not formally enter the country, and persons accompanying or escorting these groups.

Analysis of the above features, characteristics and criteria allows us to identify the following features of tourism:

business travel, as well as travel for the purpose of spending leisure time, is movement outside the usual place of residence and work. If a resident of the city moves to him in order to make purchases, then he is not a tourist, since he does not leave his functional place;

Tourism is not only a branch of the economy, but also an important part of people's lives. It covers the relationship of a person with his external environment.

Consequently, tourism is a set of relationships, connections and phenomena that accompany the trip and stay of people in places that are not places of their permanent or long-term residence and are not related to their work activity.

2. Types of tourism

The following types of tourism can be distinguished.

Excursion tourism is a trip for educational purposes. This is one of the most common forms of tourism.

Recreational tourism is travel for recreation and treatment. This type of tourism is very common all over the world. In some countries, it stands out as an independent branch of the economy and functions in parallel with other types of tourism.

Business tourism - trips related to the performance of professional duties. In connection with the general integration and the establishment of business contacts, business tourism is gaining more and more importance from year to year. Trips are made for the purpose of visiting objects that belong to the company or are of particular interest to it; for negotiations, to search for additional supply or distribution channels, etc. Turning to travel companies in all such cases allows you to organize a trip at the lowest cost, saving time. In addition, the sphere of business tourism includes the organization of various conferences, seminars, symposiums, etc. In such cases, the construction of special halls at hotel complexes, the installation of communication equipment, etc., become of great importance.

Ethnic tourism - trips to visit relatives. The services of travel companies are resorted to in this case as the leaders of sports teams, organizers of competitions, as well as fans and those who simply want to attend the competition.

Target tourism is a trip to various public events.

Religious tourism is a journey aimed at performing any religious procedures, missions.

Caravanning is a journey in small mobile houses on wheels.

Adventure (extreme) tourism is tourism associated with physical exertion, and sometimes with danger to life.

Water tourism - trips on board a motor ship, yacht and other river and sea vessels along rivers, canals, lakes, seas. Geographically and in time, this tourism is very diverse: from hourly and one-day routes to multi-week cruises on the seas and oceans.

All these types of tourism are often closely intertwined, and it is often difficult to single them out in their pure form.

3. International tourism

Economic Importance of International Tourism

The importance of tourism in the world is constantly increasing, which is associated with the increased influence of tourism on the economy of a particular country. In the economy of a particular country, international tourism performs a number of important functions:

International tourism is a source of foreign exchange earnings for the country and a means of providing employment.

The development of international tourism leads to the development of the country's economic infrastructure and peace processes. Thus, international tourism should be considered in accordance with the economic relations of individual countries.

International tourism is one of the 3 largest industries, yielding to the oil industry and the automotive industry, whose share in world exports is 11% and 8.6%, respectively.

International tourism in the world is extremely uneven, which is primarily due to different levels of socio-economic development of individual countries and regions.

The greatest development of the international received in Western European countries. This accounts for over 70% of the global tourism market and about 60% of foreign exchange earnings.

The World Tourism Organization in its classification distinguishes countries that are mainly suppliers of tourists (USA, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, etc.) and countries that are mainly receiving tourists (Australia, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, and etc.).

4. Main trends in the development of international tourism

In the last 20 years, the average annual growth rate in the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the world amounted to 5.1%, foreign exchange earnings - 14%.

According to WTO (World Tourism Organization) experts, the number of tourist trips in the world by 2015 will reach a billion tourist arrivals, of which 1 billion will fall on Central and Eastern Europe, including the CIS and Baltic countries, where tourism will develop at a faster pace than European regions as a whole.

According to various analysts, the following factors underlie the development of international tourism:

Economic growth and social progress have led to an increase in the volume of business trips for educational purposes.

The development of interstate ties and cultural exchanges between countries has led to the expansion of interpersonal ties between and within regions.

The development of the service sector stimulated the development of the transportation sector and technological progress in the field of telecommunications.

The most important factor determining the geography of tourism in the world is economic. In terms of return on investment, the tourism industry is among the economic forwards, generating impressive value additions. Tourist services in the world market act as an "invisible" product, a characteristic feature of which is that a significant part of these services is produced with minimal costs on the spot.

Table 1. Factors of growing popularity of certain regions of the world

5. International tourism in Russia

In 2000, the Russian tour business strengthened its positions: almost twice as many went on vacation abroad than in 1999, moreover, the number of tourists exceeded the pre-crisis level. It became obvious that the crisis contributed to the consolidation and specialization of the Russian tourism market.

Currently, more than 15,000 organizations operate in Russia, the main activity of which is tourism. With the creation of a new tourism market infrastructure, the issues of replenishing the state budget through tourism activities, demonopolizing the industry, stimulating the development of other sectors of the national economy (trade, transport, communications, production of consumer goods), as well as the constitutional rights of citizens to rest, are being resolved.

Despite the ongoing tourist boom in Russia, the impact of the tourism industry on the country's economy is still insignificant. It is adequate to the state's contribution to the development of this industry and is constrained mainly by the lack of real investment, the low level of hotel service, the insufficient number of hotel beds, and the shortage of qualified personnel.

According to the most optimistic estimates, only one worker out of 300 is employed in the Russian tourism industry, which is 309 times lower than the same global figure.

The structure of trips to Russia by foreign citizens by purpose of the trip is as follows:

• Service - 2899 thousand people (28.2%)
• Tourism -1837 thousand people (17.9%)
• Private - 3903.1 thousand people (37.9%)
• Transit and transport service - 1651.1 thousand people (16%)

Conclusion

Today we perceive tourism as the most massive phenomenon of the 20th century, as one of the most striking phenomena of our time, which really penetrates into all spheres of our life and changes the world and landscape. Tourism has become one of the most important factors in the economy, so we see it not just as a trip or vacation. This concept is much broader and represents a set of relationships and the unity of connections and phenomena that accompany a person on travel.

High rates of tourism development, large exchanges of foreign exchange earnings actively influence various sectors of the economy, which contributes to the formation of its own tourism industry. The tourism sector accounts for about 11% of the world's gross national product, 14% of global investment, every 16th job, 22% of global consumer spending. Thus, today it is impossible not to notice the huge impact that the tourism industry has on the world economy.

An important property of the current stage of tourism development and changes in its organizational forms is the penetration of transport, trade, industrial banking, insurance and other companies into the tourism business.

The intensive development of international tourism relations has led to the creation of numerous international organizations, the promotion of better organizations, the promotion of a better organization of this sphere of international economic relations.

List of sources used

1. Markova VD Marketing services.
2. Dobretsov A. Export of services and international tourism.
3. Sirotkin S. P. Economic theory.
4. Lyubushin N. P. Analysis of financial and economic activities of enterprises.
5. Bakanov. M. I. Sheremet A. D. Finance and statistics Izd. 4th
6. Kozyrev V. M. Tourist rent.
According to the magazine "Travel&Toursim"
Abstract taken from the site: 2005-2015 BestReferat.ru

Abstract on the topic “International tourism in various regions of the world” updated: April 21, 2018 by: Scientific Articles.Ru

Europe. European countries receive the largest number of foreign tourists. In 1989-1997, the number of tourists who arrived in Europe increased to 350 million people, and cash receipts from international tourism doubled. However, the share of Europe in world tourism is gradually falling. Studies of the nationality of tourists traveling around the continent show that 90% of European tourists are residents of the European countries themselves. The Germans make up 19% of the total number of travelers, the British - 10%, the French - 7%, the Danes - 6%.

The relative loss of European dominance in tourism is due to:

Aging of the tourist product of the southern European countries (Greece and Italy);

High prices for tourism products in the Nordic countries (Great Britain, Sweden)

Socio-economic and ethnic problems in Eastern European countries;

Growing popularity of Southeast Asian countries.

Tourist flows are mainly directed to the recreation centers of Western and Southern Europe (France, Spain, Italy). This concentration is the result of the habit of summer beach holidays. The UK is known for educational tourism, while Northern Europe (Scandinavia and Ireland) specialize in eco-tourism.

America. America is the second region after Europe in terms of the number of foreign tourists. These are South, Central and North America, the islands of the Caribbean. Half of international arrivals in the region are from the USA and Canada, and Europeans take the 1st place here - 15%.

USA and Canada - a huge domestic tourist market and highly developed infrastructure with an extensive hotel network and transport industry. The second place is occupied by the Caribbean Islands, which receive 12 million tourists a year. In South America, tourist flows are relatively weak due to political instability and economic development. The main types of tourism are beach, sports, sightseeing, business tourism.

Income from international tourism reaches 10-20% of the total export income. Such a high level is a consequence of the competitiveness of the region and the specialization of some areas in tourism - Canada, the Caribbean, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina.

East Asia and the Pacific (WAT). BAT is in third place in the world in terms of tourism development, and mass visits by tourists to this region began in the 80s. XX century. These are mainly industrial countries - active exporters of goods: Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Taiwan.

Since 1985, these countries have increased their share of tourist arrivals to 18% and their financial receipts from tourism to 20%. The main tourist flow is generated by the countries of the region themselves (78%). For example, Japan provides financial incentives for Japanese vacationers abroad. The second and third places are shared by Europe and the USA.

BAT attracts tourists with its unique nature, and new industrial countries with business tours. Leisure tourism is developed in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The Japanese industry ranks second in the world after the United States. Singapore offers shopping tourism. Thailand is developing new beaches on the southern coast of the country, organizing educational trips to the northern part. There is a highly demanded sex tourism industry in the largest cities.

Tourism is well developed in Australia and New Zealand, in Melanesia and Micronesia. Holidays in the Pacific Islands benefit from the relative proximity of the Australian market and have a good image in Europe.

In the BAT region, the average spending per tourist exceeds the world average of $659 and amounts to $764. Although in some countries, such as China or Mongolia, spending by vacationers is extremely low - up to $200.

Africa. The number of foreign tourists visiting Africa and the cash receipts from them are relatively small and amount to about 2-3% of the world. The growth of international tourism in Africa was constrained by the high prices of the African product in the tourist markets. However, in recent years, the region has switched to low-cost mass, mainly beach tourism, especially in the north of the continent near the Mediterranean coast.

The largest generating market for the countries of the region are the African countries themselves, providing up to 50% of all tourists. Other tourist-generating countries are France, Germany, Great Britain. This is explained by the fact that not so long ago these countries were the metropolises of African colonies.

The most popular tourist destinations are located: in the north - Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco; in the east - Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles, Mauritania, Zimbabwe. Some of them specialize in elite beach tourism and develop a high-class hotel industry, receiving up to $ 900 from each vacationer.

In southern Africa, a popular tourist destination is South Africa, which leads the list of the first countries on the continent in terms of arrivals and receipts. South Africa has a developed transport and hotel infrastructure, and is also becoming a fashionable country in international tourism.

However, Africa as a whole lags behind in international tourism, because many countries in the region are not economically developed and do not have political stability, and military conflicts and epidemics continue in many parts of the continent.

Russia. According to the Federal border service, in 2003, 5.7 million people left Russia for tourism purposes, in 2004 - 6.6 million people, in 2005 - 6.78 million people, in 2006 - 7.75 million people.

The formation of the Russian tourist market began in the 1990s, when three processes were going on simultaneously: the collapse of Soviet-era enterprises (tour agencies, travel agencies); the creation of new enterprises, which later became known as tour operators or travel agents; modification of old tourist enterprises by restructuring to develop a tourist product that is in demand among the Russian consumer.

Some countries have introduced a number of measures to attract Russian tourists: the countries of the former socialist community, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, etc.); simplification of visa formalities in Greece, Spain; economic tours for Russian tourists (Egypt, Turkey).

The European part of Russia, the Caucasus and the mountains of Western Siberia became the most priority areas for domestic tourism. This is a vacation in coastal cities - (Sochi, Gelendzhik, resorts of the Kaliningrad seashore); cognitive tourism in cultural and historical centers ("Golden Ring of Russia", Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Pskov, Uglich, Yaroslavl). Ecological and sports tourism, safari tours (hunting, fishing) are developing almost throughout the country, river cruises along the Volga, Lena, Irtysh, Yenisei are popular, sea ​​cruises in the Far East. Winter types of tourism, mountaineering, water tourism, trekking are cultivated in the Urals, in particular in the north of the Perm Territory, Altai, the Caucasus, Kamchatka, and Karelia.

Switzerland

Since the 19th century foreign aristocracy, mainly from Great Britain, rested on the picturesque shores of numerous lakes in Switzerland. The first tourist group to Lake Geneva was organized by Thomas Cook's company in 1863. The British also popularized holidays in mountain resorts, for example, in Zermatt, which was originally built as a mountaineering center. With the construction of a railway to the Alps in 1870, tourism was further developed: the famous Alpine health resorts were built - St. Moritz in Switzerland and Bad Ischl in Austria. Summer tourism in the Alps dominated until the 20s of our century, when in 1924 the Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix (France) for the first time. During this period, skiing tracks were actively laid in Switzerland. Before World War II, most tourists came from the British Isles.

The economic crisis and the second World War with its consequences caused great damage to the tourism business of Switzerland, but despite this, she began to build new tourism centers and until the early 50s ranked first in alpine tourism, but in 1955 another alpine country - Austria - bypassed it.

During the 1980s tourism in Switzerland experienced a certain stagnation as the industry upgraded its room stock in hotels and other places of residence. However, the modernization was carried out at a slow pace and did not keep pace with the requirements of customers in modern conditions. In addition, warm winters with late and little snow cover have created a number of new problems. Nevertheless, winter sports have shown a certain growth trend, which has enabled the hospitality sector to maintain a sustainable business, hosting guests throughout the year and hosting about 3 million people a month. However, the self-service sector was loaded only during peak seasons.

In the early 90s, despite the fact that summer tourism in Switzerland is losing its popularity, the busiest period of the year is still summer - 57% of the total number of days of stay of tourists (both international and domestic) fell on the summer months.

Swiss tourism statistics are based on information collected at various tourist destinations, as Switzerland does not collect statistics on arrivals at the border (this is due to the fact that tourists can enter the country by many overland routes), thus making it difficult to estimate the size of different markets. Almost 60% of the accommodation of foreign guests (13 million people) is in the hotel sector, while 62% of domestic tourism (about 2 million people) is in the self-service sector (apartments in private houses, chalets, camps).

The hotel sector is also of great importance for tourist accommodation, however, the number of tourist days in this sector is unevenly distributed among tourist areas, for example, mountain resorts are most popular, followed by lakes, big cities etc.

Switzerland welcomes visitors from both northern and southern countries due to its specific tourist resources and geographic location. The largest generating market for the country is Germany. Next come the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Belgium, USA, Japan, Austria, etc.

Switzerland has a large market for day and transit visitors. Approximately one third are from Germany, another third from Italy and one fifth from France.

Since the mid-1980s, foreign visitors to Switzerland have reduced their stay in the country due to the strengthening of the Swiss franc against other currencies, as well as relatively high prices for goods and services.

Some decline in international tourism in Switzerland is also associated with competition from the countries of the Mediterranean basin, offering excellent summer holidays on the beaches.

International tourism occupies an important place in the Swiss economy: annually it generates almost 13 billion Swiss francs of income, which is 8% of the country's total national income, and at the same time provides employment for about 14% of the country's population. The Swiss themselves love to travel - approximately 60% of travel takes place in the country of the Mediterranean basin, while tourists spend about 10 billion Swiss francs abroad. Thus, the income from international tourism is about 3 billion Swiss francs.

Tourism in the country is being actively explored. So, back in the years of the Second World War, large educational and research centers were founded, such as the Institute for Tourism Research at the University of Bern and the St. Gallen School of Economics. In addition, the development of tourism is supported by government and public organizations of the country, as it is the only economic alternative to agriculture in mountainous areas. At the same time, it also creates problems for the country's leadership, as it negatively affects the sensitive environment of the Alps and causes inconvenience to the local population.

Austria

In Austria, as well as in Switzerland, statistics are not collected on tourists at the border and the state of tourism is judged by the rates of arrival at different places of accommodation and the number of days spent there. The geographical position of the country - at the crossroads of routes connecting the north of Europe with the south, Western Europe with the East, as well as its excellent highways, cause a large number of transit tourists (most of them from northern European countries are sent to the Mediterranean coast) and one-day tourists. The number of the latter increased significantly after the removal of the "Iron Curtain" between the socialist camp and the West in the late 80s. In the early 90s, tourists from neighboring Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, as well as from Poland, began to actively visit the country. As a rule, these were shopping tours.

In 1992, foreign tourists spent a total of 99.7 million tour days in Austria, and domestic tourists (mainly residents of the capital, vacationing in the eastern part of the country) - 30.6 million tour days. Unlike the Swiss, the Austrians are not very willing to travel within and outside the country - 2.6 million trips abroad in 1990, half of them in the Mediterranean. This circumstance cannot but affect negatively the structure of placements. Until recently, the Austrians rented rooms in the private sector. However, in the early 1990s, the number of self-service accommodations began to grow in the country: from 7% in all accommodations in 1985 to 11.8% in 1991 due to increased demand from foreigners.

Austria is currently a leading winter sports destination. Accordingly, international tourism is mainly concentrated in the western, mountainous part of the country. In 1992, 70% of visitors to Austria spent their holidays in three provinces - Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg.

The main generating countries for Austria are Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Together they provide almost 80% of the tour days spent by foreigners in the country, and half of all arrivals are in Germany. This is followed by the Netherlands, Italy, Great Britain, Switzerland, France, USA, Belgium, Sweden, countries of Eastern Europe, etc.

Austria is more dependent on the German market than Switzerland: in 1992, 64.8% of tour days in all places of residence versus 43.6%. The Italian market for Austrians has recently exploded from 1.6 million tour days in 1987 to 3.6 million tour days in 1992.

Tourism in Austria, like in Switzerland, has two of the busiest periods, but the "peak" seasons in Austria are more precisely defined, namely, in summer, the "peak" is in August, and in winter - in February.

As the popularity of winter tourism in Austria grows, it, as well as other Alpine states - Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany and Slovenia, faces the problem of regulating the increased growth in the impact of winter sports on the ecosystem. In addition, in all these countries, the popularity of summer tourism is declining.

Italy

The history of the development of the tourism industry in Italy has more than 100 years, during which the country has become one of the leading tourist centers in the world. In 1991, 36% of all tourist arrivals in the Mediterranean basin were in Italy.

In 1983, with the aim of developing the tourism sector and hotel industry The country adopted the Basic Law on the development and improvement of tourism. This law defines the tourism management bodies at the regional level and the procedure for their functioning; the definition and classification of the country's hotel industry is given; the conditions under which transport and tourism bureaus, public associations are allowed to engage in tourism activities; regulates the activities of professionals in the tourism sector; measures to support the tourism industry from the state are determined, etc.

The main tourist resources of Italy - mountains, lakes and cultural values ​​​​primarily attract foreigners, not local tourists. Among the main motives for coming to the country, 45% of foreign guests note its cultural and historical values, 43% - climate, 27% - nature, and about 30% - a combination of all the previous ones.

International tourism in Italy is mainly concentrated in the north of the country. For example, in 1990, the share of days spent here by foreigners was 57% of the total number of days in the country. The first place in terms of receiving foreign guests is occupied by the city of Veneto - 20% of all arrivals in the country, followed by Tuscany and Alto Adige, each with 13% of all arrivals.

Domestic tourists (about 39 million people) try to spend their holidays mainly in the resorts of their region. One of the reasons for this is the lack of a developed network of roads, as, for example, in neighboring France. Thus, the population of the northern regions of Italy rests on the nearest seashore, where there is a good summer climate. Thus, the densely populated areas of Italy, such as Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Tuscany, which have access to the sea, as well as the Lombardy region, where winter sports are developed, receive an average of about 10% of domestic tourists each.

The influx of tourists, especially domestic ones, falls mainly on two summer months - July and August (during the "peak" season, the occupancy of accommodation facilities in some areas exceeds 40%). This circumstance creates problems for both cities and coastal resorts, as well as for the country's hospitality industry as a whole, since its number of rooms is small. Most of the country's hotels are concentrated in the northeastern part: 46.1% of all hotels and 40.8% of all hotel beds. The largest number of hotels is concentrated in the area of ​​Trentino-Alto Adige, 18.5 and 13.7% of hotels and hotel beds, respectively.

In the coastal regions of the central part of Italy, camp towns are mainly common, and in the south, with a shortage of hotel rooms, rental premises. However, unplanned and uncontrolled development of tourist accommodations, secondary homes has a devastating impact on the environment. In addition, the tourism sector is being developed in close proximity to industrial zones in order to connect it to the relatively developed infrastructure of these zones.

In the 1980s, the European Community began an expensive development project tourism infrastructure southern region of Italy - Mezzogiorno (midday country) for a total of 34.9 million ecu. The purpose of this project is to develop the tourism industry, create jobs and stop immigration, as well as the possibility of investing in a relatively backward local economy. As a result of this project, 65,000 additional hotel rooms were created.

Every year, almost 60 million tourists stay in Italian hotels and other places of residence, of which, as a rule, 35% are foreigners. About 85% of domestic and foreign tourists also stay in hotels, which account for almost 75% of their tour days. Domestic and foreign tourists spend the largest number of tour days in three-star hotels (85.2 million tour days in 1996).

In Italy, hotels are divided into categories, which are determined by the number of stars: from one to five luxury stars. Other tourist accommodation enterprises form a network of additional facilities, including campsites, tourist villages, holiday homes, youth houses, private rental apartments, alpine shelters, etc.

In 1997, there were 35,870 hotels in Italy, each with an average of 49 beds, 27 rooms only, and 25 with bathrooms. One-stars accounted for 30.6% of all hotels in the country (accounting for 15.1% of living rooms and 14.2% of beds). For other hotels, the corresponding indicators (in%) are: two-star hotels - 32.4 (25 and 24.4); three-star - 30 (42.3 and 44); four-star - 6.2 (16.3 and 16.4); five-star - 0.3 (0.8 and 0.8).

In Italy, the cost of hotel accommodation and food depends on the geographical area, season, hotel class and other factors, while it is 60 - 65% of the total cost of the tourist product.

Most of the tourists who come to Italy are citizens of neighboring countries: Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland, but more than half of them are day visitors or transit passengers.

The Germans are leading not only in terms of number, but also in terms of length of stay in the country. However, it should be borne in mind that tourists from other countries, such as the United States and Japan, spend a total of a week in the country, but ply between the three cultural centers - Rome, Florence and Venice, which makes it difficult to calculate the total duration of their stay. As for the preferences of foreign guests, more than half of the tourists from Austria, for example, rest on the Adriatic coast, a quarter - in cities and only 10% - in the mountains. The French, for example, visit cities (50%), and 25% of them rest by the sea, etc.

An important role in the development of international tourism in the country is played by the National Tourism Administration (ENIT), which has a wide network of representative offices abroad. In some countries, it operates through the state airline Alitalia and other firms. The task of ENIT is to study the conjuncture of the international tourism market, conduct promotional activities and increase the flow of tourists from abroad to the country.

In recent years, international tourism in Italy has experienced a certain decline, but the flow of tourists from Eastern Europe has sharply increased.

Italians rarely spend holidays outside their country. The diversity of Italy's tourist resources allows them to meet their needs at home. Nevertheless, the growth of the economy and the simplification of foreign exchange controls in recent years have given impetus to the development of outbound tourism, for example, in 1991, 14.7 million Italians traveled abroad. Mostly they travel to neighboring countries.

The recent rise in outbound tourism is taking the pressure off Italian resorts, as is the small influx of foreign beachgoers due to competition from other Mediterranean countries. At the same time, the unique nature of the historical and cultural monuments of Italy will attract foreign guests for a long time, and therefore their preservation and management of tourist flows to tourist centers are especially relevant.

Germany

In 1990, there were about 255 million tour days in Germany, spent by domestic (this market is 220 million tour days, or 86%), and international tourists (these figures are for West Germany). However, the growth of domestic tourism has slowed down in recent years due to the increase in the number of travelers abroad.

Germans prefer to stay in hotels or other hotel-type accommodations. Until recently, accommodations in the self-service sector have also enjoyed some popularity. Most of them are concentrated in Bavaria. In the 90s, there was a shortage of international standard hotels in East Germany, so tourism there could not develop properly.

West Germany before unification received a large number of tourists from many countries who visited it for various purposes.

The share of vacationers was small, which indicates the relatively high cost of traveling around the country due to the high exchange rate of the national currency (mark) and the high standard of living. As for the relatively large share of visits from relatives and friends, especially from the US and the UK, this is due to the presence of NATO troops on the territory of the country. There were especially many business visits from such countries as Great Britain, France, Switzerland and Japan. Numerous international trade exhibitions and conferences held in the cities of Hannover, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Munich and others play an important role in this.

Germany is a strategic crossroads towards the Alps, France and the Mediterranean coast. Therefore, there are many transit travelers in the country, some of whom do not even stay overnight. Germany is visited by many day-trippers from Eastern European countries on shopping tours, especially from neighboring Poland.

As for outbound tourism in West Germany, it is growing steadily (the proportion of Germans spending their holidays abroad is constantly increasing). The number of tourists making pokege tours and trips to remote areas is also increasing.

The Germans are the most wasteful holidaymakers after the Americans. Their spending in 1991 amounted to 13% of all tourist spending worldwide. The tourism industry in many European countries is closely linked to the German market.

The most popular holiday destination for Germans is the Mediterranean.

In the late 80s, they began to give preference to holidays in Spain, while Italy lost its former popularity due to the deterioration of the environmental situation in the country (during 1985-1989, the influx of Germans decreased by 20%). The number of visits by Germans to other Alpine countries - Switzerland and Austria - amounted to 18.4% of the German market, while the Scandinavian countries - only 5.1%.

The unification of Germany, the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, the Desert Storm War and other political events, as well as economic crises, of course, influenced the country's established outbound tourism model. The number of trips to countries such as, (after 1991) and has increased. The number of long-distance trips also increased, and their growth continued even during the economic crisis of 1990-1991. Most of these trips fall on, albeit with fluctuations associated with a constant change in the ratio of national currencies. Far East is the second most attractive region for the German market. Business tourism is especially developing in countries such as Hong Kong. Many Germans rest in. Other distant tourist centers for the Germans are, etc.

Until the early 90s, the Western and Eastern parts of Germany functioned as different tourist areas. East Germany, like other countries of Eastern Europe, had a well-organized domestic tourist market, but its international tourism was limited with the exception of arrivals from other countries of the socialist camp and German travel there, especially to coastal areas (for example, the village of Pitsunda on Black Sea coast former USSR). If in 1990 only 25% of East Germans traveled abroad, in 1991 their share was 45%. West Germany for the entire post-war period was integrated into the tourist flows of Western Europe. However, in the early 1990s, outbound tourism from West Germany declined slightly due to a slight recession in the economy. On the other hand, the decrease in outbound tourism from the western part of the united Germany is offset by its increase in the eastern part of the country. Thanks to the strong German economy, it remains one of the main generators of tourism worldwide.

The emerging opportunities for tourist flows between West and East can create a new model of tourism for European countries in general and for a united Germany in particular. The new model of domestic tourism that is developing within a united Germany may in the future be reflected in changes in international tourism patterns.

France

The French domestic tourism market is different from the domestic tourism market of the rest of Western Europe. First, a very small number of French people spend their holidays abroad (approximately 18% per year). Secondly, there are pronounced holiday peaks here: school holidays in July and August, short Christmas holidays, holidays in February and during Easter. Thirdly, the French prefer to travel by car (81% of all domestic tourists). Fourth, most travelers are city dwellers.

The French during their holidays prefer not to stay in hotels, but in other places of accommodation. For example, in 1990 there were 2.8 million "secondary" houses in the country. Hotels are relatively unpopular with holidaymakers in winter.

About 50% of the French spend their summer holidays on the coast, 25% in the countryside, 17% prefer mountain resorts. In winter, the picture changes, and only 17% of the French rest on the coast, 28% in the countryside and 40% go to the mountains.

In terms of outbound tourism, only 5% of French travel by pokege tours and 6% by air. In summer, neighboring Spain and Italy are especially popular (together 40% of summer travel). In 1991, Spain received 8 million tourists from France, and Italy - 7.29 million tourists. Recently, the French have chosen to travel to such remote regions as STA, Asia, the French Caribbean and French Polynesia. The largest number of business trips are in Germany and the UK.

The number of foreign tourists in France for 1980 - 1991 increased significantly, from 29 to 55 million people. One of the main generating markets for France is Germany, where about 25% of the guests come from, and their number increased from 8.4 to 13.4 million people in the same decade. It is followed by Great Britain, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, etc.

Tourists arriving in France prefer to relax on the French Riviera: 35 million tour days in hotels and tourist camps per year. Next come Paris (15.5 million tour days in hotels), the Alps, Aquitaine and Languedoc-Roussillon (each with 6 million tour days in hotels and tourist camps).

The French economy, actively using state regulation to develop regional economies, systematically developed the countryside to receive guests, for example, in Aquitaine, part of the Massif Central and in Languedoc-Roussillon. However, these projects were supposed to serve, first of all, the development of domestic tourism, and not inbound tourism.

In 1967, the French government adopted a plan for the joint development of rural areas and tourism in Aquitaine. The plan was financed by the private sector, and development coordination was entrusted to a government commission. According to this plan, the coastal region was divided into 16 sectors, of which nine were to be developed for tourism, i.e., beaches, recreational areas on lakes and accommodation for water sports were equipped. In the remaining seven sectors, the so-called green zones, it was supposed to preserve the landscape and wildlife. This plan included: the preservation of already existing resorts, such as Arcachon and Biaritz, the renewal and expansion of existing settlements, such as Lakano, and, finally, the construction of new resorts, such as Moliets. The planning and construction of new accommodation facilities were carried out in order to meet the needs of the country's domestic tourism. Until 1982, 28% of overnight stays were in holiday camps, and the share of hotels and guest houses was only 13%, while 46% were "secondary" houses. With the start of the project, tourism began to develop significantly, even during the years of economic recession in the 80s.

The coast of Languedoc-Roussillon until the 60s of our century was not developed for tourism and recreation. The sand dunes of the coast are separated from the main land by swamps and shallow lagoons rich in mosquitoes. In 1964, the French government, in order to encourage the development of the tourism sector in the region, developed a program for the development of the region. According to this program, it was planned to build five tourist settlements connected by high-speed roads and highways. The northern group of resorts occupies a sea sandy coast 20 km long south and west of the historic city of Azhua Morte. In 1990, 24% of all funds allocated for the development of tourism in the entire region were allocated for its development. Of the resorts built earlier, Sarnon and Palava are popular among tourists, while the resorts of Camargue and La Grande Motte were built relatively recently. The latter is a major resort with its famous yacht club. Another group of resorts, under the general name of Tu, is located on a sandy shore 30 km long and includes such relatively old resorts as Sète, Meuse and Marseille, and the young resort of Cap d'Adge. Water sports are developed on Lake Tu. This group has a quarter of beds places of the whole region, followed by groups Valras-Groussan, Luca-Barcarès (22% of the beds of the whole region and a good yacht club near the city of Barcarès), Canet-Argelès (13% of the beds of the whole region and a yacht club near the main center Saint-Cyprien group).

The improvement of roads, according to the developers of the program, was supposed to stimulate the growth of tourism. The program was constantly modified (in 1969 and 1972) and its implementation led to a noticeable increase in the number of tour days in the region from 16 million in 1968 to 39 million in 1979, and the total number of arrivals increased from 30 thousand people in 1960 up to 5 million people in 1990. The French government, recognizing the priority of tourism development for the region's economy, made risky investments in the development of the road network and the environment. However, such a scheme does not always give a positive result. For example, an attempt by the Italian government at one time to develop tourism in southern Italy by improving roads ended in failure.

The Languedoc-Roussillon region as a whole caters to domestic tourists. So, in 1986, 88% of all guests were French, in 1992, the region accounted for 54.1 million domestic market days. Foreign guests came mainly from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. In 1988, 63% of all placements were "secondary" houses, and 26% - camp towns.

There are indications that France may change its domestic tourism model in the coming years and increase demand for accommodation during the longer summer period. The opening of the tunnel across the English Channel will undoubtedly increase the flow of tourists from the UK and change the existing model of inbound tourism.

Spain and Portugal

Spain specializes mainly in mass beach tourism and is one of the main tourist centers in the world. The rapid growth of tourism in the country was observed after the Second World War. Thus, the number of tourists increased from 3 million people in 1950 to 34.3 million people in 1990. Tourism development is concentrated on the Mediterranean coast of the country and the Balearic Islands. The Atlantic coast of Spain is relatively undeveloped for tourism. The Spanish-owned Canary Islands are located much further south and therefore many tourists come here in winter to spend their holidays on the beaches.

In the period between the first and second world wars, Spain did not attract tourists, as the country was poor, destroyed after the civil war of 1936-1939. economy. At this time, the main tourist centers were Italy, the Cote d'Azur of France and the Alps. In the early 1950s, the first wave of car tourists arrived from France on the Costa Brava. Tourism began to develop at an accelerated pace, and the number of tourists in 1959 amounted to 4.19 million people. During this period, the Spanish government recognized the role that the tourism sector could play in the development of the national economy, and began to pursue a policy of encouraging it in various ways, for example, by issuing loans for the construction of hotels.

In 1959, the country's economy was simultaneously opened to foreign investment and the national currency (peseta) was devalued, as a result of which Spain became a more attractive tourist center than the coasts of Italy and France. And the private sector of the Spanish economy responded quickly, and in the early 60s, new hotels, apartments and villas were built on the Mediterranean coast without any general plans and coordinating policies. As a result, the number of tourists over the next 10 years increased by almost 4 times and reached 24 million people in 1970. Subsequently, this growth was accelerated by the expansion of air transport and the opening of the country to northern European markets, in particular, to the UK. Tourism has played a significant role in the Spanish economy, creating new jobs for 500 thousand people in the mid-60s and 1 million in 1975 and generating foreign exchange for the country (tourism accounted for a quarter of Spanish exports in 1975). Not surprisingly, the Spanish government continued to actively support the country's tourism sector in the future. However, accelerated and uncontrolled growth has caused environmental destruction, and the continued concentration of tourism development on the Mediterranean coast has affected the demographics of the country, contributing to the influx of people into this region.

In the middle of the 70s, during the period of rapid growth of tourism, active construction of large modern hotels began in Spain to meet the requirements of mass tourism.

In the 80s, tourism continued to play an active role in the Spanish economy and provided jobs for 11% of the country's potential workforce, and also accounted for 33.4% of all Spanish exports and 9% of the country's GDP in 1989. However, within 5 years (1988 - 1992) the total number of foreign tourists remained at the same level - 34 - 35 million people a year. The main generating markets in Spain are France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy, in 1988 - 1990. decreased, but in 1991 - 1992. growth began again. The exception was the UK. The number of tourists from this country decreased from 7.6 million people in 1988 to 6.1 million people in 1991. This was due both to competition from other tourist centers and to the environmental problems of many old Spanish resorts, where there was a decrease in life expectancy. cycle.

In response to these negative processes, many resort areas, especially those associated with the British market, began to pay special attention to improving the environment. To this end, they reduced the movement of motor vehicles, laid out new parks, planted trees, cleaned the streets and beaches, and built new recreation areas, etc. In addition, they opened and promoted new tourist accommodations, as well as entertainment and leisure facilities. For example, the resorts of Benidorm, Sa Lou, Torremolinos and the Balearic Islands have been refurbished. In 1992, the Olympic Games were held in Barcelona, ​​and the World Exhibition "Expo-92" was held in Seville, in addition, Madrid was recognized as a European city of culture. All this helped to improve the image of Spain as a major tourist country in the world.

At this time, the Spanish Tourism Agency invested 1.9 million British pounds to promote their tourist centers in the UK. This event slightly increased the number of tourists, attracting them with new tourist segments: the number of independent tourists increased significantly compared to those coming on pokege tours.

In the 70s and 80s, domestic tourism also actively developed and citizens of the country began to visit coastal resorts, while the share of vacationers increased from 41% of the country's population to 53.4%. In 1991, the Spanish domestic market as a whole provided 22.7 million visits to the country's hotels and camps, which are mainly concentrated on the Mediterranean coast. In the same year, there were 12.48 million registered Spaniards living in various locations in the region. Only the resort of Benidorm was visited by 3.2% of domestic tourists, and Palma de Mallorca - 3%. The province of Valencia as a whole receives 15.7% of all domestic tourists and ranks first, and are in second and third places.

Thus, Mediterranean resorts receive both local and foreign tourists, but they are not as congested as in France or in France, where international and domestic demand coincide. This is due to the fact that the Spanish domestic market is small by Western European standards.

The growth in domestic tourism relatively offset the decline in the number of tourists from the UK to resorts such as the Costa Brava, Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol.

Outbound tourism in Spain is rather underdeveloped, and this is shown by the characteristics of a small but nevertheless growing market.

First, the total number of people leaving the country is relatively small, but outbound tourism to neighboring countries is growing rapidly: the number of tourists leaving Portugal has increased from 2.5 million in 1986 to 2.5 million in 1986. to 4.1 million people in 1991, and to France - from 1 million people to 2.8 million people over the same period. Tourism to relatively remote parts of Europe developed slowly and has been in decline since 1989.

Secondly, the number of people traveling to relatively cheap tourist centers such as Greece, Morocco, Portugal, Tunisia and Turkey is rapidly increasing and amounts to 30 - 57%. The growth of outbound tourism to relatively expensive countries, such as France, Italy and the UK, is slow.

Thirdly, the number of Spaniards traveling by air is only 7.5% of outbound tourism, 90% of tourists leave the country by car to neighboring countries. Long-haul flights are mainly made by business travelers, of which 40.7% are to Canada and 44.5% to Japan.

Portugal significantly differs from Spain in the size of the tourism industry, although there is much in common between them. For example, the tourism sector in both countries is concentrated in small areas - inland and along the southern coasts (the largest concentration of tourists on the Atlantic coast of the Iberia Peninsula falls on the southern part of Portugal - Algarve), and their northern Atlantic coasts are half empty . Portugal, like Spain, owns a territory in the Atlantic Ocean off the western coast of Africa - this is about. Madeira, which, due to its mild climate, is especially attractive for winter holidays (Portugal was a large colonial country in the past). In both countries, domestic and outbound tourism is developing rapidly.

However, the volume of domestic tourism in Portugal is still small - and only a third of the country's population spends holidays in their own country. The Portuguese, unlike foreign guests, are popular with the northern coastal regions. As for outbound tourism, it is also still small. For example, in 1986 only 8% of the population traveled abroad.

Portugal receives about 20 million visitors a year, but most of them are day-trippers from neighboring Spain. However, in the early 90s, only 4 million tourists were registered in various accommodations. Foreign tourism in Portugal developed especially strongly in the 80s and 90s, by an average of 10 - 11%. Particularly large markets for Portugal are, apart from Spain, Great Britain (in 1991 its share was 13.5%), Germany (9.1%), France (7.7%), the Netherlands (3.8%), Italy (2.9%) and USA (1.7%).

Great Britain

The growth of the UK tourism industry over the entire period of its development has depended on changes in the structure of the population and its leisure habits, and not on its size (the population of the UK is 57.2 million people). The British began to travel actively after the Second World War. The oil crisis that broke out in the mid-1970s, as well as the economic recession in the 1980s, significantly slowed down the growth of travel, and only since the mid-1980s has the total number of travel significantly exceeded their level in the early 1970s. During this period, the balance between domestic tourism and foreign travel of the British has also changed a lot.

The size of the domestic market as a whole reached its pre-crisis level in 1987. However, during this period, the number of traditional two-week vacations of the British to British seaside resorts simultaneously decreased by 14%, and holidays in the private self-service sector became more preferable. Only business tourism showed significant growth - from 17 million people in 1978 to 20 million people in 1980, even when domestic tourism was going through hard times. Of course, these changes in the structure of the market could not but affect the distribution of funds in the country's tourism industry. For example, a decrease in demand for hotels in resort areas has forced owners to use hotels for business tourism on weekdays or as nursing homes, etc. From the 70s to the present, the number of British trips abroad exceeds the number of foreigners coming to Great Britain, as the British still prefer to spend their holidays in the best resorts in Spain, France, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Tunisia and Turkey. Another important factor is the strong national currency, which makes the country expensive for foreign visitors. In the late 1980s, the Desert Storm War and an unstable national currency caused a reduction in outbound tourism in the UK from 31.03 million people in 1989 to 30.5 million people in 1990. However, in the 90s, outbound tourism again began to grow.

A significant place in outbound tourism in the UK is occupied by trips to North America (43%), which depend on fluctuations in the ratio of the dollar and the pound sterling. For the British in the summer, the most popular American resort is Miami. The rest of the time, this market remains large due to trips to meet relatives and friends. The British also make long-distance flights on inclusive tours to exotic countries - Thailand, the Gambia and the Caribbean.

The number of foreign tourists arriving in the UK increased steadily in the 1970s, despite the oil crisis, and reached its peak in 1977-1979. - about 12.5 million people. However, in the early 1980s, the number of arrivals of foreign guests decreased and in 1981 reached 11.4 million people. After that, the figure increased and in 1992 amounted to 18.1 million people. During this period, tourism receipts also rose with fluctuations, from £2,797 in 1979 to £7,630 in 1992, although the average length of stay of overseas visitors declined.

The purposes for which tourists arrive in the UK are very different: holidays are in the lead (43%), followed by business travel (21%) and visiting relatives and friends (21%). About 50% of foreign visitors come from the countries of the European Union, of which 40% are vacationers and 26% business tourists. North America is another important generating market.

The bulk of foreign visitors to the UK are business travelers to major cities where cultural tourism is also concentrated, for example, in London (49% of all arrivals in the country and 63% of receipts).

Benelux countries

Three European countries - Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, which signed an agreement on the Benelux Economic Union in 1958, are popular tourist centers.

In Belgium, the domestic tourism market in 1990 amounted to 23.9 million tour days. Its main part - 59% - is concentrated in the coastal zones of the country, in the traditional resorts of Ostendle, Knokkle and Blankenblgl. The Belgians prefer to relax in the self-service sector (one third of tourists live in camps, half of the tourists prefer other types of self-service sector - villas, apartments, etc.) After the coastal zone, the Ardennes mountains are the second most popular holiday destination for the Belgians, which account for 6 % of the country's summer domestic tourism.

In 1991, 12.17 million overnight stays were recorded in Belgian accommodations. The guests mainly came from the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the USA and France. In 1992, 3.2 million tourists visited the country. The average length of stay for tourists in the country is only 2 days.

The bulk of tourists visiting Belgium are business travelers and officials of various pan-European organizations. Brussels is not only the capital of Belgium, but many head offices of the European Union, NATO and many multinational companies are located here. Such guests, as a rule, stay for a short time in expensive hotels.

The next category of tourists are travelers who want to get acquainted with the historical and cultural sights of cities. There are at least nine cities in Belgium with well-preserved medieval quarters. Particularly popular among foreign tourists are Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent, which account for 85% of all tour days in cities other than Brussels.

Bruges- a beautiful medieval city built on numerous canals. In some ways, it resembles Venice, thanks to its narrow streets, ancient bridges and buildings. For example, in Bruges there are Belfi and Close Hall, built in 1248, Tone Hall - in 1376, as well as numerous cathedrals of the XII - XIII centuries. The city has many museums, including the Groening Museum, rich in masterpieces of world art.

Another medieval city, Ghent, is famous for its flower fairs. At its center stands a church built in 1180, Belfi and Close Hall built in 1300 and Sant Bravo Cathedral built in the 15th century.

Antwerp is not only known for its medieval sights, but is also a major center for the diamond business. Therefore, business tourism is developed in the city. The main square of the city was built in the 16th century, and the gigantic Gothic cathedral located on it stands out among the many churches and towers.

Brussels is also one of the medieval cities and, in addition to business tourism, is a major center of historical and cultural tourism. Tourists are especially attracted by its main square - the Grand Palace, which was reconstructed in 1696. It houses the Gothic-style city palace, the buildings of Maison d'Roy and Guld Houses.

Almost a third of foreign visitors prefer to relax in the coastal zone of Belgium. Basically, these are guests from neighboring Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and France. Numerous one-day visitors also come to the country, for example, in 1985 their number was 15 million people.

Belgium is located at a strategically important intersection of many European routes: between the Paris region and northern Germany, between Great Britain and Europe through the cities of Ostendle and Zeebrugge, etc. As a result, a huge number of transit tourists cross the country's borders, for example, in 1985 7 million people.

The Belgians themselves prefer to relax in France (in 1989, 6 million people), in the Mediterranean resorts of Italy and Spain, as well as in the Alpine countries.

The second state included in the Benelux are Netherlands. The domestic tourism market is very developed here. Yes, in

In 1990, 14.6 million people took a holiday in their country, averaging 7 days. Most of them stayed in the self-service sector (in the Netherlands, especially in their western part, there are many camp towns).

Recently, a new concept of self-service has been especially popular in the country. The company "Center Parke" has sports and recreation complexes located in forests and water areas with a total area of ​​120 - 160 hectares. There are seven complexes across the country, each of which can accommodate 1.5 million guests a year, as well as two additional ones located in neighboring Belgium. These complexes include well-equipped bungalows, restaurants, shops, swimming pools, other sports facilities (tennis, squash, bowling, canoeing, surfing, etc.).

Unlike other European countries, the inhabitants of the Netherlands prefer to spend their holidays in recreation areas located inland. For example, the coastal zones of the north and south of the country account for only 15.5% of overnight stays, which is due to two reasons.

First, the coastal zones are densely populated. Half of the country's population lives here and, naturally, the inhabitants of the Netherlands themselves prefer to spend their holidays in quieter and more secluded areas.

Secondly, the population living near the coastal zone uses it for day trips.

Among the countries where the inhabitants of the Netherlands prefer to travel, Germany is in the lead. However, for individual travelers, the most popular country is France, especially its central massif and the Alps, as well as Austria and Switzerland, which account for 16% of the outbound market.

The main factors that attract tourists from the Netherlands to these countries are the different landscape and opportunities for winter sports. The Mediterranean countries account for only 26% of the Dutch market (relatively high prices in these countries play a significant role in this).

The Netherlands, due to its small area, is mostly visited by one-day visitors. For example, in 1985, 21 million foreign visitors and another 13 million sightseers arrived for the purpose of shopping.

The average travel time for foreign tourists is 2.8 days (again, due to the small territory of the country). In 1991, 5.8 million tourists visited the Netherlands, with Germany as the main generating market, followed by the United Kingdom by a wide margin, and then the United States. More than half of the tour days spent in the hotel stock, which is concentrated in the densely populated north and south, as well as in the main European seaports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, are in the business travel market. A major center of international tourism in the Netherlands is the capital - Amsterdam, built around a system of numerous canals. The city has many old (XVII century) and beautiful buildings. It is a cosmopolitan city widely known for its nightlife. The city's airport is a major transportation hub.

Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and it is not surprising that every year 5 million transit passengers cross the country's borders.

Luxembourg- the third country in the region - receives relatively fewer tourists than the other two countries. For example, in 1988 it received 760,000 tourists and 2 million one-day guests. However, tourism is the third important branch of the country's economy and is heavily dependent on neighboring Belgium and the Netherlands. This dependence is explained by the fact that they are the main generating countries for international tourism in Luxembourg and provide 70% of overnight stays for foreign guests.

Most of the tourists who come to Luxembourg are business travelers, as the EU Bank is headquartered here, as well as many other foreign banks. The country is visited by many tourists for holidays in the Ardennes.

The population of Luxembourg is small, but every year the country sends almost 250 thousand tourists abroad who prefer to travel to neighboring countries.

Scandinavia

The population of this region is relatively small, but the countries that make up it are quite well-known among the tourist-generating countries of the world.

The duration of holidays for citizens of the countries of the region is long and amounts to five weeks or more. Many potential tourists prefer to stay in secondary homes located in the coastal areas and in the countryside near their cities.

As for the outbound tourism market, preference is given to active recreation. For example, 70% of traveling Swedes take part in various sports activities (swimming, kayaking and canoeing, fishing, climbing, etc.) and almost the same number go skiing.

Since the 80s, business tourism has been rapidly developing in the Scandinavian countries. Almost a third of foreign guests are residents of other Scandinavian countries. This is the result of the active work of local tourism organizations promoting their own Scandinavian tourism product. Here, of course, cultural differences between different countries of the region and unified national laws play a role.

North America is another major generating market for the region, thanks to cultural links between the two regions established in the 19th century, when there was a large emigration from Scandinavia to North America.

Sweden. Tourist centers of this country are scattered throughout the country. Of course, the main center for both international and domestic tourism is the capital of the country - Stockholm and its suburbs. The region includes an archipelago of over 2,000 islands, many of which are accessible by boat. In 1990, for example, this region, together with Upsala, received 17% of all domestic tourists and 24% of foreign tourists.

The other most popular tourist region of the country is the Gold Coast with a total length of the seaside zone of 400 km and rich sandy beaches; it accounts for 14% of domestic tourism and 13.7 international. Next come the Swedish lakes region, the country of Glace (the center of glass production) and Night Beach, each of which accounts for 10% of the domestic market.

Finland shows similar differences with Sweden in terms of domestic and international tourism. Arrivals of foreign tourists are mainly concentrated in the capital of Helsinki (in 1992, the capital accounted for 38% of all tour days of stay of foreign guests. However, in the same period, only 7.3% of the inhabitants of their country visited Helsinki. Most of them (one a third) spends their holidays in the interior of the country on the Finnish lakes.The other part (one third) prefers the northern territories, i.e. Lapland and the Finnish Night Coast.

In Norway, the main tourist center for both domestic and international tourism is also the capital Oslo - a major center of culture and art, rich in seafaring and Viking museums. Another major tourist region of the country is the forest region of the Eastern Valley, where about 30% of the total number of rooms in the hotel business in Norway is concentrated. Another 10% of the room stock is concentrated in another popular tourist region - around the city of Bergen. And in the region of Trondheim there is 7.4% of the country's room stock.

Denmark, due to its close proximity to Germany, fills its inbound tourism market with the latter: 37% of all tour days and 60% of tour days in camps. The country is rich in many historical monuments and Viking museums. Its main tourist center is the capital of the country - Copenhagen, which in 1990 received 28% of all foreign guests. In addition to its historical monuments, the city is famous for the Tivoli Garden theme park, which annually receives about 4 million visitors. Another equally famous theme park in the country, Legoland, hosts 1 million guests and is especially popular among the British.

For residents of the Scandinavian countries, the most popular countries for tourism are Europe, mainly Germany (the most popular among Danes), France, Great Britain, and Poland. Next come the Mediterranean countries. For example, in 1991, 18% of Scandinavian tourists vacationed in the seaside resorts of Spain (especially the Canary Islands), Italy, Greece, as well as Cyprus and Turkey. (The last two countries are new destinations for tourists in the region and the number of trips in this direction has been growing rapidly in recent years.)

Eastern Europe

Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia was divided into two sovereign states: the western half (the Bohemia massif) became the Czech Republic, and the eastern half (the elevated zone together with the Tatra Mountains) became the Slovak Republic.

Czechoslovakia was the largest tourist country in Eastern Europe with a well-organized tourism industry. She had a good network of hotels and holiday homes. Until 1989, Czechoslovakia had the largest inbound tourism industry among all the countries of the socialist camp in Eastern Europe. The country received 24.6 million visitors a year, most of whom came from neighboring socialist countries and were classified as sightseers.

The goals of the visit of guests from non-socialist countries to the country differed significantly from the goals of guests from socialist countries: only 18% were sightseers, while the majority were for pleasure travel and 17% for business travel.

Outbound tourism in Czechoslovakia was mainly aimed at neighboring socialist countries, and a third of the trips were one-day trips. For citizens of Czechoslovakia, the most popular tourist centers were Hungary, East Germany and Poland, among Western countries - Germany and Austria (the number of trips was insignificant and they were mainly made for business purposes).

With the beginning of economic reforms in Czechoslovakia in 1989 - 1991. The tourism sector of the country, both domestic and international, began to develop rapidly. For example, outbound tourism increased from 8.5 million trips per year in 1989 to 20.6 million in 1990 and 39.6 million in 1991. Most residents went on day trips and spent little money abroad. Although in 1990 - 1991. the number of migrants increased sharply, the amount of money they spent during the same period decreased from 636 to 393 dollars. This circumstance clearly demonstrates the difficulties associated with economic transformation.

Two-thirds of the travels made by the inhabitants of Czechoslovakia were to Western countries, and, as mentioned above, mainly to West Germany (15.3 million people) and Austria (14.1 million people). During this period, the number of people leaving for neighboring Poland increased sharply (from 1.3 million people in 1990 to 6.1 million people in 1991).

Inbound tourism has also undergone significant changes. The number of tourists visiting Czechoslovakia has more than doubled. Most of the guests, namely 41%, were tourists from the united Germany. The number of Polish tourists also doubled, the Austrian market increased significantly - from 1.2 to 11.5%. However, the number of Hungarian tourists has sharply decreased, and the number of Czechs and Slovaks traveling to Hungary has increased slightly, by only 3.8 million people.

Since 1993, the tourism infrastructure of the countries of the former Czechoslovakia has received large foreign investments, most of which are in the Czech Republic. However, the political and economic problems that both countries faced during the reforms often worries foreign investors and can reduce their number.

Hungary is economically and politically the most stable country in Eastern Europe. The country began its program of economic reforms in 1968 and has moved much further in this direction than the neighboring countries of the socialist bloc. In 1989, Hungary's tourism industry was well established and ranked second only to Czechoslovakia. The country was especially popular as a tourist center among Czechs, Poles and East Germans. Hungary also attracted Western tourists, especially from countries such as Austria and West Germany, which in the mid-80s, there were 2 million people a year. Another 1.4 million Western visitors made day trips.

In 1988, 17.9 million people arrived in Hungary, of which 30% were tourists from non-socialist countries. The number of foreign guests more than doubled after the 1989 revolution and in 1990 reached 37.6 million people. Most of the arriving guests came from Austria, Germany, Yugoslavia and Romania. In 1991, the number of arrivals from Eastern European countries decreased, bringing the total number of arrivals to 33.2 million. However, the number of Western tourists continued to grow despite the international political situation.

In the 80s, the number of Hungarian trips to the West also increased and reached its peak in 1989. The total volume of outbound tourism to all tourist centers in the world in 1985-1988. doubled, but in subsequent years its growth slowed down. This situation differed markedly from Czechoslovakia and Poland (see below). This is due not only to the fact that the trips of Hungarians to the West were better organized before 1989, but also to the currency control policy pursued by the Hungarian government since 1990. The expenses of foreign tourists during this period also decreased by about 2 times.

For various reasons, the political changes that took place in the country in 1989 did not have a significant impact on travel patterns both to and from Hungary, in contrast to other Eastern European countries.

Poland has the largest population in the region, about 38 million people. The country has a high-tech economy, but a backward infrastructure. Before the collapse of the socialist camp, it was one of the main generating countries, since the Poles could travel freely back in the 70s. Outbound and inbound tourism developed rapidly in 1989, but subsequent economic problems reduced its growth (the standard of living fell by 30% by 1992). The number of trips abroad decreased from 22 million people in 1990 to 20.8 million people in 1991, with the majority traveling for trade or work abroad.

On the other hand, high inflation, which reached 80% in 1991, made the country relatively cheap for international tourism. For this reason, the number of foreign tourists slowly but grew from 3.4 million people in 1990 to 3.8 million people in 1991 and 4 million people in 1992. All this concerns day trips, which increased from 8 million people in 1989 to over 30 million people in 1992

During this period, the structure of inbound and outbound tourism in Poland also changed significantly. The number of arrivals from Germany, the CIS countries and Czechoslovakia increased, and from other Western European countries it doubled. Poles traveled, as before, mainly to Germany, but the number of travels to other Western European countries increased significantly. At the same time, the CIS countries and Czechoslovakia lost their markets.

Most tourists leave the country and come to it for the purpose of trade, business and visiting relatives and friends, which are concentrated mainly in the urban areas of the country. Nevertheless, Poland is rich in both natural and cultural tourist resources, which can be skillfully used in the future for the development of recreation. However, the insufficient number of hotels that meet Western standards of service, as well as the accommodation of foreign guests mainly with their relatives and friends, testify to the underdeveloped tourism industry in the country.

Romania rich in coastal and mountain resources (Carpathians) to meet domestic needs. Romanian outbound tourism has increased in recent years, but its expenditures have been small (only $114 million in 1991). Most foreign trips were sent to Hungary (9 million people in 1990), then to Bulgaria (1.8 million people) and Turkey (500 thousand people in 1991). Romania's outbound tourism model is similar to that of other Eastern European countries, however, most of the trips were one-day trips.

Before the revolution, relatively few tourists visited the country, only 4.5 million people, of which 1 million guests came for one day. This was due to the political situation in the country, although Romania was the only country in Eastern Europe that provided package tours for beach holidays on the Black Sea coast for the Eastern European market. In 1990, 6.5 million foreign visitors visited the country, most of them from Eastern Europe: tourists from the former USSR amounted to 2.1 million people, Hungary 900 thousand, and only 13% of arrivals were from other European countries.

Bulgaria until 1989 it had a relatively small but economically important international tourism sector for the country. In terms of the number of arrivals in the country, it was inferior to Romania, but the share of tourists from Western countries was relatively high (9-12%), they brought the necessary foreign currency. Nevertheless, Bulgaria's tourism industry was mainly dependent on the Eastern European holiday market: in 1991, 60% of the total 1.5 million holiday market and guests visiting their relatives and friends in Bulgaria came from Eastern European countries, in particular from Romania, Poland and CIS countries.

In 1992, this market disappeared as state subsidies to the industry were reduced and economic problems arose in the generator countries. In the period 1990 - 1992. Bulgaria experienced hyperinflation. This meant that few Bulgarians could travel abroad (only 1.5 - 2 million Bulgarians traveled abroad annually) and political freedom was offset by economic travel restrictions. Naturally, the expenses incurred by Bulgarian tourists abroad were also small.

Bulgaria has sufficient tourism resources to satisfy both domestic and international demand for historical monuments, beach holiday opportunities and picturesque landscapes of the mountains and the Black Sea coast.

Greece and Cyprus

Greece For many years, it has concentrated on a narrow segment of tourism - historical and cultural, so mass tourism is a relatively young area for it. Historical and cultural tourism developed rapidly in the postwar years, attracting mainly tourists from the United States. This continued until 1967, when a military coup took place in the country. The rule of the military junta put a stop to the growth of tourism in Greece at a time when the neighboring countries of the Mediterranean continued to develop their tourism industry. After Greece again embarked on a democratic path of development in 1974, beach tourism began to develop rapidly in the country (especially on the islands), which competed with well-known resorts in other Mediterranean countries, such as France, Spain, etc.

In the 70s, tourists came to Greece, mainly from Great Britain and Germany. However, already in the 80s, in order to remove dependence on specific markets, Greece began to encourage the development of mass and other types of tourism from different European countries. This was facilitated by its convenient geographical position and the stable economic and political situation in the country. However, the Greek tourism industry is still not large enough and in 1992 was only 9.7 million guests.

The main markets for the tourism sector in Greece, as mentioned above, are: the British market, which has increased over two decades by almost 10% and in the same 1992 its share was more than 22%; further Germany - 19.9%, Italy - 6.4%, the Netherlands - 5.6%, France - 5.6%, etc. As for the motives of travel, here the preferences of tourists from different countries are different. For example, the British mainly come to the country on vacation (62%) and only 3% of them are lovers of cultural and historical monuments. The majority of Spaniards, Japanese and Italians (41%, 35% and 25% respectively), on the contrary, prefer cultural and historical tourism. This explains the fact that the directions of movement of tourists around the country are very different for tourists from different countries, for example: the Spaniards and Americans stay mainly in the capital, which is rich in ancient monuments of history, architecture and culture, the Germans, the British, the Swedes and the Dutch prefer the islands. In terms of age distribution, younger tourists, regardless of their country of origin, prefer not to stay in the same place, but travel around the country and visit several tourist destinations at once.

Cyprus island ranks third among the islands of the Mediterranean after Sicily and Sardinia. The development of the tourism industry in the country began in the 60s, but in 1974 it was destroyed after the Turkish troops invaded the island and divided it into two parts: the southern one - the Republic of Cyprus and the northern one, proclaimed in 1983 by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus ( recognized only by Turkey). After these political upheavals, most of the hospitality industry specialists moved to the southern part of Cyprus from the north, leaving their enterprises there.

After 1983, the situation relatively stabilized and now the hotel industry in Cyprus is concentrated in the capital of the country - Nicosia, as well as in the resorts of Troodos. At seaside resorts, the number of accommodation places is still small.

The Cypriot government recognizes the role of tourism in the country's economy and actively subsidizes the construction of new hotels and other infrastructure, actively supports the airline "Cyprus Airlines" and encourages training for the tourism industry. New construction is carried out almost entirely on the south coast in close proximity to the cities of Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos. (The development of tourism in these cities should have started back in the 70s, having all the prerequisites for this, it happened only in 1984 after the opening of the airport in Larnaca.)

In recent years, two coastal areas have been developing rapidly - the Coral Coast south of Paphos (46% of the total hotel room stock and 42% of apartments built since 1992) and the Ayia Nala - Paralimni area (20 and 35% respectively).

The city of Limassol has long been a major resort in Cyprus, so by 1992, about 15 thousand beds for tourists were created there. However, with the development of the city of Ayia Napa, the leadership passed from Limassol to it, and in 1992 there were almost 15.5 thousand beds. At the same time, excessive haste during reconstruction caused poor quality, for example, unfinished construction appeared, in some places poor infrastructure (unfinished construction of roads and lack of interchanges), pollution of some areas. In 1983, tight state control was introduced over regional development projects in order to attract additional investment in infrastructure and improve supply, which, in turn, would increase the construction of hotels.

The Cypriot government helped turn the country into a prestigious tourist destination for a high-paying market. In the mid-1980s, almost a third of all new tourist accommodations and 40% of hotels were four- or five-star hotels. This model continued into the 1990s, when the share of luxury hotels reached 46%. In this regard, the tourism authorities have tried to diversify their tourism product into business travel, recreation (beach tourism and mountain resorts) and cultural tourism. However, progress in this direction was modest due to higher prices than in other Mediterranean countries, Cyprus stubbornly resisted entering the mass market. The situation changed in 1986 when restrictions on charter flights were relaxed. In the early 90s, more than half of the tourists arrived in the country charter flights organized by foreign tour operators.

The explosive growth of tourism in Cyprus in the late 80s and early 90s reflected the growth of tourism throughout the Mediterranean basin at this time. Cyprus was the only European country with annual growth of over 10%. Thanks to this, the total number of tourists in the country increased from 1 million people in 1987 to 2 million people in 1992.

Great Britain was a large generating market for Cyprus during the years of rapid development of tourism. So, in 1987, about one third of foreign visitors were British, and in 1992 their share reached 54%. Close dependence on the British market is partly due to the fact that Cyprus until 1968 remained a British colony. Another large market - Scandinavia in 1987 was 21%, and in 1992 it dropped to 10%. Next come Germany, Ireland, Austria and Switzerland (the shares of all countries are almost equal). A large number of tourists come from neighboring Lebanon and Greece, with which Cyprus has cultural and political ties.

The tourism industry in Northern Cyprus is underdeveloped and the main generating market for it is Turkey. However, there are a few guests from the UK and Germany. Since 1987, in this part of the island, they have been trying to revive tourism in the old seaside resort areas on the coast of Smoking and north of Famagusta.

Malta- one of the European tourist countries of the Mediterranean basin. In the early 1990s, 1 million guests were already hosted there (more than 60% of these guests were British, 15% were Germans). This dependence of Malta's tourism on the British market, as well as Cyprus, is due to the long-term colonial dependence of the country on Great Britain (from the beginning of the 19th century to 1964).

Tourism in Malta began to develop in the 70s and accounted for 20 - 30% per year. However, some problems arose in parallel, such as poor water supply or inadequate construction quality. Therefore, the Maltese government, assessing the importance of tourism for the country's economy, invested heavily in improving infrastructure (for example, building new terminals at the airport) and environmental protection (for example, cleaning up polluted coasts).

Malta retains the image of a cheap tourist center, actively encouraging charter flights of tourists to the country. It is increasingly promoting its tourism product, from seasonal tourism to full-year tourism, so the accommodations available to the Maltese tourism industry are upgraded accordingly and meet modern requirements. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of apartments, holiday homes and self-catering accommodations, as well as an increase in the construction of luxury hotels in order to attract high-paying guests.

In Turkey, tourism statistics are practically not kept. Nevertheless, it is known that about 3 million foreign visitors arrive in the country every year, as well as 1.5 million Turks who live outside the country. Turkey's main generating markets are Germany, whose share in the total number of foreign tourists in the early 90s was approximately 40%, followed by France (12%), Austria (7.5%), Scandinavian countries (6%) , Benelux states (5.5%), Great Britain (5%), Italy (4%), Switzerland (3%), USA (2.5%), etc. This ratio has undergone significant changes in recent years due to the influx of Russian tourists to country. Domestic tourism in Turkey is gaining about 6 million tourists. The number of people traveling abroad is small - 2.9 million people in 1992 against 50 million people in the country.

Egypt, Israel, Tunisia and Morocco

IN Egypt the tourist sector is centered around its cultural and historical monuments, the famous pyramids, palaces and temples of the pharaohs, which are located along the Nile Valley (from Cairo in the north to the Aswan reservoir in the south). In the 80s, the Egyptian government adopted a plan for the development of beach tourism along the shores of the Red Sea, according to which the city of Hurghada was to become the main tourist center of the region. The rich underwater world of the Red Sea offers great opportunities for the development of underwater sports. In the early 90s, seven tourist villages were built in the tourist zone to receive tourists from Western European countries.

After the conclusion of a peace agreement with Israel in 1979, Egypt became one of the politically calm countries in its region, and as a result, the country's tourism began to develop rapidly, especially in the 90s. Egypt welcomes tourists from all over the world, with the US, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy and Japan being the largest generating markets.

In the dynamics of the growth of tourism in Egypt, of course, the Desert Storm war also played a role. If in the second half of the 80s the country was visited by about 1.8 million tourists a year, then in 1991 their number decreased to 800 thousand people. However, in 1992 the number of foreign tourists increased again to 1.67 million people. On the other hand, periodically recurring terrorist acts of various extremist organizations have caused fluctuations in tourist flows to the country.

Other popular tourist countries in North Africa with access to the Mediterranean are Morocco and Tunisia. The tourism sector of the latter mainly consists of beach tourism (90%). The main placements are concentrated in tourist villages away from the cities.

Inbound tourism Tunisia depends on the European mass tourism market (83%). Most of the Europeans (about 80%) arrived in the country on charter flights. The total number of European arrivals before the Desert Storm war did not grow as rapidly as the Tunisian authorities would like (from 1.5 million people in 1987 to 1.7 million people in 1990). During the war, their number decreased by 3 times. (Tunisia took a pro-Iraqi stance in the Desert Storm war, alerting European tourists.)

Until 1990, France remained the main generating market for Tunisia, since Tunisia was its colony until 1965. However, then Germany overtook France. The third important market for the country is the UK. Tunisia is also actively visited by tourists from neighboring Arab countries for the purpose of shopping and meeting with relatives and friends, especially from Algeria and Libya.

Morocco has beach resources both on the Mediterranean coast and off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. In the 70s and 80s, the government of the country encouraged elite tourism for wealthy clients, but later it switched to encouraging mass family tourism and the country began to compete even with Spain with the help of pricing policy.

The main state market for Morocco, which, like Tunisia, was a colony of France, is this country and accounts for about 28% of the total market. Next come: Spain (20%), whose tourists arrive in Morocco through the Strait of Gibraltar, Germany and the UK account for 11% of the market each. The country is also actively visited by tourists from neighboring Algeria for the purpose of shopping: their number from 1988 to 1991 increased from 375 thousand to 1.4 million people, and in 1992 amounted to 2 million people.

Israel- a country with unique cultural values. The Holy Lands of Israel have historical and religious significance for both Jews and Christians. Jerusalem is considered a city of three religions - Christian, Muslim and Jewish. According to Israeli scientists, about 20% of foreign tourists visit the country for the purpose of pilgrimage or other religious matters. The capital of the country - Tel Aviv, located on the Mediterranean coast, is the main tourist center, as the city has monuments of modern culture, as well as excellent beaches. In recent years, the popularity of the resort of Eilat, located on the Red Sea, has increased significantly. However, beach tourism plays an important, but not the main role in the country's tourism. So, in the 80s, the number of such tourists reached only 300 thousand people, mainly from the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

In the early 1980s, Israel hosted more than 1 million foreign visitors a year, of which a quarter were Americans. In the structure of Israel's guests, a large place is occupied by tourists traveling to meet relatives and friends. For example, about 40% of Jewish tourists and 20% of tourists of other nationalities visit the country for such purposes.

Due to political upheavals (civil war in the 70s), the tourism industry of another country in the Eastern Mediterranean, the once flourishing tourist Mecca of the East - Lebanon and its capital, Beirut, suffered greatly.

United States of America, Canada and Mexico

IN United States of America tourism is mainly concentrated in three regions - Florida, California and the states of the northeastern part. Approximately 40% of the US population lives in this part of the country, which includes the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia. The population here is concentrated in a long chain of coastal cities centered on New York. The region is popular for tourism due to its diverse tourist resources. Its climate is conducive to the organization of summer seaside recreation and winter sports. Although North America is not rich in historical monuments, most of them are located in this region. Pilgrims from Europe landed in these places near Boston in 1620 and their first settlement with several houses is still preserved. In some ancient cities, the streets of the 18th century are also preserved in their original form. However, the region is primarily famous as a major center of modern culture and business, led by New York.

The strip of beaches begins at Cape Cod in the north and extends south as far as Cape Hatteras. The shores are sand dunes. Between the cities of Norfolk and Long Island is a chain of sandy beaches and resort towns such as Virginia Beach, Ocean City, Wildud and Atlantic City.

The shores north of Long Island are very diverse, and therefore convenient for sailing, for example, in the Newport area, where expensive and elite secondary homes with their own beaches are concentrated for many wealthy New Yorkers. Shore pc. Maine is quite rocky and relatively less developed for tourism. The Arcadia National Park located here is the second most popular national park in the country and receives about 4 million visitors a year.

Tourism in Florida began to develop in the 70s of the last century as a winter recreation area. Many wealthy Americans built houses here to come here in the winter. However, in the 20s of our century, much changed in the state and the region became a major tourist center. So, in 1987, he received 34 million guests. The state received $40.2 billion in tourism revenue, generating 1.28 million jobs, or 23% of all jobs in the state.

There are numerous resorts on the Atlantic coast of Florida from Miami Beach to Dayton Beach. Miami Beach, known as a major center of recreation and entertainment, is equipped with a large number of high-rise modern hotels. However, the congress business is also developed in the city. Recently, it has been especially popular with Europeans who prefer to come here through pokege tours. To the north is Palm Beach, built up with luxury villas. On the west coast between Fort Myers and St. Petersburg, there are excellent beaches covered with white fine sand. The main attractions of the state are Disneyland near Orlando, the Space Research Center at Cape Canaveral.

In pcs. Florida has a good system of highways connected to the interstate system of highways and thanks to this, a large number of car tourists come to the state who prefer to stay in the northern part. Tourists, arriving by plane, concentrate near airports, on the Gold Coast in the south, between Miami and Palm Beach.

Transit tourism in Florida is small, though an important part of its tourism model. The Port of Miami serves as a gateway for cruise passengers from all over America and handles about 1 million tourists a year.

Among the states of the United States in terms of the number of arrivals and the volume of expenses, the unit is in the lead. California with a population of 28 million.

More than 90% of the population lives in cities, most of which are located on the Pacific coast. Although it is largely dominated by domestic one-day and weekend tourism, California remains one of the important hubs for US international tourism.

The coast of California is very diverse: there are sandy beaches, and rocks, and cliffs. However, there are excellent places for recreation and travel in the interior of the state. For example, Yosemite National Park is one of the oldest national parks in the country, which receives about 3 million visitors a year.

The main tourist center of the state is Los Angeles (49.3 million visits in 1987), which is a large conglomerate of individual cities, interconnected by high-speed highways. It contains attractions such as Hollywood, where tours of famous film studios are held, Disneyland, located near the city of Anaheim. Other major tourist cities in California include: San Diego, located south of Los Angeles near the Mexican border (32 million guests in 1987) and San Francisco, located in the north of the state (12.8 million guests).

Near California there are other important tourist centers of the USA - Las Vegas on the territory of the neighboring piece. Nevada, famous for its gambling business, and the Grand Canyon in pc. Arizona. Las Vegas today is one of the booming cities in the US. Thus, in 1987 it was visited by 16.2 million guests who left $ 8.6 billion in the city. Huge funds are invested in the development of the city's hotel industry; MGM hotel. The Grand Canyon is located in the valley of the river. Colorado, which crosses a 1.5 thousand-meter gorge in the Arizona desert and is a popular national park. Every year there are 3.5 million visitors.

Other US states are also rich in tourist attractions. For example, Texas has beautiful beaches; Houston has the Space Research Center; the mountain states of Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Utah and others have rich recreational resources.

Foreign guests are divided into two main groups: guests from neighboring countries - Mexico and Canada, and guests from across the ocean. The first group provides 62% of total arrivals in the country. Most Canadians are attracted to Florida, however, New York, Hawaii and California are also important tourist centers for them. Most Canadian and Mexican tourists come to the US by land (77% of Canadians come by car).

Most intercontinental visitors come to the US from Europe (47%) and Asia (31%). Of Europeans, traveling to the United States is preferred by the British - 2.49 million people a year, and from Asia - by the Japanese, 3.3 million people a year. Two-thirds of Japanese visitors visit the US Pacific islands of Hawaii or Guam. Intercontinental visitors visit an average of two states during their travels across the country.

The main gateways to the US are the cities of New York (29% of all intercontinental visitors, mostly from Europe), Miami (11%), Los Angeles and San Francisco. The last two California cities host together 20% of the country's intercontinental visitors, especially from Asia. The area located near San Francisco - Silicon Valley is the main center for the development of high technologies and actively attracts tourists from Japan.

The regional distribution of the arrivals of foreign visitors shows that most of them are concentrated in the New York area (the states of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Washington DC) and account for 17.9% of all arrivals. Next come the Pacific Coast (19.5%) and Florida along with the nearest coastal states (18.5%).

Despite the large population of the United States, relatively few tourists leave the country, for example, in 1992, 52.8 million people went abroad, most of them went to neighboring Mexico and Canada (16 million and 12 million people, respectively). The number of one-day tourists to these countries is even higher: Mexico - 50 million people and Canada - 23 million people a year. In 1992, 25% of outbound tourism was in Europe, 17% in the Far East and 10% in the Caribbean.

The US domestic tourist market is very large, despite the short vacation of Americans (two weeks). It reflects the vast size of the country and its population. A large domestic tourism market is provided mainly by the trips that Americans like to make around the country on weekends. Thus, in 1990, 51% of vacations spent in their home country had a duration of three or less nights. Most of these trips are made by car (80%) over a distance of more than 1.5 thousand km and only 15% by plane. Recently, the popularity of coastal resorts and recreation areas near lakes has been growing among Americans, and fewer mountain resorts and large cities have been visited.

Canada- a country neighboring the United States, which has the same geography of regions and an almost similar distribution of population throughout the country. However, the population of this country is significantly inferior to the population of the United States - 26.5 million people. The Canadian domestic tourism model resembles the US domestic tourism model, with a concentration primarily in the popular tourist centers of the eastern provinces of Ontario and Quebec, as well as on the Pacific coast (Alberta and British Columbia). Canadians are a large generating market for the US, with 18.9 million arrivals in 1991, especially to the border states, but also to California and Florida. A large share of outbound tourism is travel to warm summer and winter resorts in the south of the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean (40%). Canadians travel to Europe, mainly to the UK, to visit relatives and friends (more than 38%).

Inbound tourism to Canada in the early 1990s experienced relative stagnation and fluctuated between 14.8 and 15.4 million people, and since 1993 it began to decline. The number of tourists from the United States dropped significantly from 12.7 million in 1987 to 11.8 million in 1992. The growth of the Southeast Asian market (mainly Japan and Hong Kong) ensured a high level of arrivals in the country, but since and this market has shrunk.

International tourism to Canada is aimed at the same regions of the country as domestic tourism (in 1988, 82% of visitors came from the USA). Other generating markets for the country are the UK and France, where most tourists come to visit relatives and friends. West Germany and Japan (3.4, 1.5, 1.7 and 2.1% respectively in 1988).

Mexico has many economic problems: huge foreign debt and low GNP. Despite the large population (81 million people), domestic and foreign tourism in the country is poorly developed. Thus, in 1992, there were 4.3 million foreign arrivals and 38 million domestic tourists in the country. However, the country has huge tourism resources and great potential for the development of its tourism industry.

Tourism in Mexico is heavily dependent on the domestic North American market, especially the US market, which provides about 90% of Mexico's visitors. Approximately 4% of guests come from Canada, while the rest are from European countries. Tourists making one-day excursions around the country mainly concentrate in border towns that specialize in the production and sale of souvenirs, gambling. A good example of this is the city of Tiwana, which borders California. Tourists visiting Mexico for a longer period are either vacationers by the sea or connoisseurs of the country's cultural heritage.

Tourism plays a significant role in the Mexican economy and ranks second in attracting foreign exchange to the country's treasury, and is also a major employer for the labor market. More Americans spend here currency Canadians and Europeans who stay in the country longer than Americans. Therefore, the country's authorities, aware of the importance of tourism for foreign exchange, are making every effort to attract as many Europeans as possible to the country. Until recently, they succeeded in part due to the relative cheapness of the Mexican currency in relation to the currencies of other well-known tourist centers in the world with similar tourist resources, for example, in relation to Thailand.

China

China is the main tourist country on the Pacific coast. However, until recently, the majority of tourists - 25.6 out of 27.46 million people in 1990 were ethnic Chinese (in China they are called "compatriots") coming from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The National Travel Administration of China estimated that in 1990 the number of visitors from Taiwan was 1 million. Only 1.7 million tourists come mainly from Japan, the USA, the UK, the CIS countries, etc.

The current model of tourism in China is due to the political history of the country and its relationship with the countries listed above. China is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, but its most recent history begins in 1840 after the war with Britain and other European countries. The consequence of this war was the transition for a long time of the island of Hong Kong (now Hong Kong) to Britain, which developed as a trading base and financial center. In 1898, part of the territory of China (Hong Kong - "New Territories") was leased to Great Britain for a period of 99 years, and Macau became a Portuguese colony in the same period. The political development of China in the first half of the 20th century was characterized by instability, which led to a civil war after World War II and ended with the victory of the communists in 1949. The defeated Chinese nationalists fled to Taiwan and established their own state, the Republic of China, as an alternative to the communist People's Republic of China (PRC). Further, the PRC constantly tried to annex the lost territories. This circumstance and the cooling of relations with the neighboring Soviet Union caused the PRC's political isolation from the rest of the world in the 1960s and 1970s. Naturally, travel to and from China was insignificant. However, in the 1970s, the country's policy began to change with the implementation of economic and political reforms.

In 1978, after a long period of isolation, China began to pursue an "open door" policy. With the beginning of the modernization of the Chinese economy, a stream of foreign guests poured into the country (for 2 years their number increased by 500 thousand people). Most tourists were interested in the ancient culture of the country. Of course, one of the important reasons for such a policy was the need for an influx of foreign currency into the country. So in 1983 - 1989. foreign exchange came from tourism in the country.

Together with economic reforms in 1978 - 1988. significant political changes took place in China and in its relations with its neighbors. In 1984, the PRC and the UK came to an agreement that from July 1, 1997, at the end of the lease term for Hong Kong, not only the leased lands, but the entire colony would be transferred to the PRC. (In addition to the island of the same name, Hong Kong consists of 235 islands, a part of the mainland called the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories.) As the PRC integrated into the world political and economic system, international support for Taiwan declined, but its relations with China improved significantly. If mutual travel before 1987 was practically impossible, now Taiwan has allowed its citizens to visit relatives in China. However, there is still no direct connection between them, and all these trips are made through Hong Kong. Therefore, the total number of visitors who crossed the border of this city with China in 1990 amounted to 20 million people, while the population of Hong Kong in the same year was only 5.8 million people.

In the mid-1980s, the PRC experienced a second wave of rapid growth in tourism, but growth slowed slightly by the end of the decade, possibly due to the country's weak tourism industry and its management, as well as insufficiently developed infrastructure. This circumstance gave impetus to the construction of new middle and upper class hotels with the participation of foreign capital. However, many hotels, especially in Beijing and Shanghai, already in the early 90s began to experience financial difficulties due to the wrong choice of location and pricing policy, that is, they could not fully use the opportunities of the growing compatriot market. In terms of infrastructure development, the construction of new airports lags behind the construction of new hotels, and the railway connection is poorly developed and practically not used by foreign tourists.

The main generating market for China in 1979 - 1988. was Japan, followed by the US, UK and Australia. In 1989, thanks to the policy of "perestroika" and the agreement between the USSR and the PRC on opening the borders for trade and commercial activity, the Soviet Union overtook Australia and shared third and fourth place with Great Britain.

The ongoing "open door" policy and increased contacts with the West led to student protests demanding more democracy, which were suppressed in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. After this event, Western tourists, in particular from the USA, Australia and other countries of Southeast Asia boycotted China. However, after a while, the visits of tourists from Europe resumed.

The political and economic reforms carried out in the PRC began to positively influence the domestic tourist market, and already in 1987 there were 290 million domestic tourists in the country. The reasons why China has become a major generator for international tourism and a major tourist destination in the world lies in its political evolution. Thanks to the reforms, the number tourist areas available to foreigners increased from 122 cities in 1982 to 274 cities in 1986 and more than 500 cities in 1990 Rich tourist resources (the main historical monuments are in the northeastern and central provinces, where the ancient civilization began China, and the southern and coastal provinces are located in scenic areas, where many beautiful cities, as well as the largest population in the world, have radically changed the tourism model in East Asia and the Pacific region as a whole.

In 1997, Hong Kong passed to China, which began to pursue a policy of "One country - two systems." During the previous hundred years, Hong Kong has developed as a major port, commercial, financial and tourist center, and became part of the newly industrialized countries of the Pacific region. Tourism for him is the third major generator of foreign currency.

Prior to joining the PRC, Hong Kong invested heavily in the neighboring province of China, Guangdong, with which it had trade and industrial ties. As a result, the level of mutual travel between residents of both regions is very high. With the change in China's domestic policy and its relations with neighboring countries, Hong Kong's inbound tourism model has also changed. In addition to its guests, the country began to receive transit travelers visiting the PRC, and has become a kind of gateway to China: regular flights are made between Hong Kong and more than ten Chinese cities, and modern roads and railways have been laid to the city of Guangzhou. The main generating markets for Hong Kong are Japan, followed by the US and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the UK.

In Hong Kong, tourism is based on shopping, diverse nightlife, visits to Chinese cultural attractions (opera, theaters), theme parks (Oshn Aquarium Park, Song Dynasty village), sports (equestrian sport) and annual festivals. Hong Kong is also famous as a major center of conferences and fairs, so, in 1990, 18 - 29% of Western visitors arrived in the country for these purposes. In the 1980s, Hong Kong was a major generator for other Asian countries (from 1 million people in 1981 to 2.04 million people in 1990). The main trips were made to neighboring countries and were short-term. Residents of Hong Kong mainly spend their holidays in Thailand (90% of all holidays), and make business trips to the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Japan (51, 26, 21 and 20% respectively).

Before the events in Tiananmen Square, 28% of Hong Kong residents traveling abroad visited China, and after 1989 their share dropped to 13%.

Another Chinese territory - Macao (Aomyn), which was a Portuguese colony, in 1999 passed to the People's Republic of China. Macau, which also includes the Macao Peninsula, Taipa, Coloane and others, is located in the Pearl River Delta near Hong Kong and covers a total area of ​​16.92 km2. Most tourists come here by boat from Hong Kong. For example, in 1992 the number of guests as a whole was 7.85 people, of which the share of guests from Hong Kong was 78.7%. Half of the guests come to spend their holidays here, and the other half to play in the casino.

Japan and South Korea

The Japanese have no tradition of making long-distance overseas travel. Prior to 1964, such travel for recreation or educational purposes was insignificant. In the late 60s, outbound tourism in Japan began to develop rapidly and in 1973 reached 2.2 million trips. However, this figure remained until the end of the 70s and doubled only in the early 80s, in 1984 it amounted to 4.6 million trips. One of the reasons for this was the oil crisis that swept the whole world in 1974. Despite the rapid growth, the number of travel was a small share of the total population of the country - 3.8%. Considering this circumstance, the Japanese government in 1987 adopted the "ten million" program, according to which it was planned to increase the number of foreign tourists to 10 million people by 1991. To do this, it was supposed to promote the economic growth of other countries, as well as eliminate the payment imbalance between Japan and its trading partners.

The task was completed already in 1990, when 10.99 million foreign trips were recorded (an increase of about 20% on average compared to 1986). In 1992, the number of trips was 11.79 million. The relative slowdown in growth rates is due to the Desert Storm war. Spending by Japanese tourists also skyrocketed from $10.76 billion in 1987 to $35.39 billion in 1992.

The main foreign tourist centers where Japanese tourists were sent were the countries of the Pacific basin - the USA, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, each of which received about 1 million Japanese tourists a year. Other countries in the region such as Australia, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Guam received about 500,000 Japanese.

Another important tourist region for the Japanese is Europe, which they have been exploring for a long time. Of the European countries, only France has now crossed the millionth milestone, while Great Britain, Germany and Italy each receive 500 thousand tourists from Japan.

In 1991, the Japanese government launched a new program, "Dual Destination Tourism XXI", which aims to promote outbound and inbound tourism in the 21st century.

In recent years, due to the economic downturn, some regions of Japan need additional investment to carry out structural changes. At the same time, the government has developed tourism development projects in these regions both to meet domestic demand and to attract foreign tourists.

At the same time, Japan is actively involved in tourism development projects in many countries and invests large amounts of both state aid and loans for the development of recreation infrastructure (for example, in countries such as Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, etc.). At the same time, 15.6% of private Japanese companies invested in the purchase of real estate, of which 25% were made in the hotel business.

Inbound tourism in Japan developed poorly due to the large exchange rate of the national currency against the currencies of other countries and was initially associated mainly with the US market (25 - 30%). However, in the 1980s, thanks to the rapid development of the newly industrialized countries of East and Southeast Asia, the country's inbound tourism began to increase and reached 3.58 million people in 1992 against 2 million in 1984. Currently, two-thirds of foreign visitors arrive from Asian countries, while countries such as Taiwan and South Korea overtook the United States.

Tourists from Asian countries and the United States visit Japan in order to spend their holidays here. Europeans mostly make business trips.

In South Korea, until recently, tourism was poorly developed, and only in 1989 began to develop very rapidly; while the number of Korean tourists traveling abroad increased immediately by 67%. The political changes that took place in the country (in 1988, the first elections were held on a multi-party basis), and the Olympic Games, held in the capital Seoul in the same year, contributed to an increase in the number of foreign visitors arriving by 25%. Later, while outbound tourism continued to grow and spending by Koreans abroad increased, the growth in inbound tourism along with spending by overseas visitors slowed down. This circumstance led to a deficit in the country's international tourism balance, and the government was forced to reconsider its spending on the promotion of outbound tourism.

South Korea's largest tourist exchange partner is neighboring Japan. Japanese tourists come to spend their holidays here, while Koreans go to Japan for both leisure and business purposes, as well as to visit their relatives and friends. The US is another major market for outbound and inbound travel, but travel is for business purposes or to meet friends and family.

Southeast Asia

Tourism in the region as a whole has developed rapidly and has risen from 8.3 million arrivals in 1980 to 20 million in 1991. However, different countries in the region have different tourism patterns. This is most likely due partly to the difference in their tourist resources, and partly to their historical and political development.

The largest country in the region is Indonesia, in which there are 366 different ethnic groups, ethnic and cultural holidays are offered here.

Singapore- an ultra-modern country with numerous business centers equipped with modern communication facilities, so the country offers not only leisure, but also business tourism. Both of these countries are significant tourist centers not only in the region, but also in the world, because half of the tourism market in both countries is outside the region. In addition, Singapore is the second most popular Asian tourist center after Thailand among Europeans.

Tourism in Singapore began to develop steadily in 1965 - 1982, reaching the level of 3 million arrivals per year. In the late 1980s, the annual growth was 14-15%. After a slight lull in 1991, tourism in Singapore, just like in other Asian countries, continued its rapid development (10.6%) and reached almost 6 million arrivals.

Most of the foreign visitors are from Asian countries (in 1992 their share was 60 - 65%), followed by Europeans (15 - 19%), then tourists from Australia and New Zealand (12%) and finally from the USA (6%).

Fast growing markets for Singapore are China, Taiwan and South Korea.

Singapore pursued a policy of actively promoting the country as a top holiday destination, resulting in an average of 66.5% holidaymakers in 1989. Business travel accounted for 12.8% and transit tourists 15.5%. Tourists from Japan, Taiwan and Germany are more willing to come to rest, while tourists from Hong Kong and the USA prefer business tourism.

Singapore has the highest welfare of the population, so residents can actively travel, and the country is a large market for other states. For example, in 1991 there were 4.8 million trips outside the country (3.2 million trips were made to Malaysia alone).

The largest tourist destination for Singaporeans after Malaysia is Indonesia, followed by Thailand and Hong Kong.

Indonesia- another major tourist country in the region also pursued a policy of actively promoting its tourism product, pursuing mainly two goals: providing jobs (about 180 million people live in the country and their number is growing rapidly) and attracting foreign currency, especially after the fall in oil prices in the 80s. (Tourism is the fifth largest foreign exchange generator for the country after oil, gas, timber and textiles.)

Inbound tourism began to develop in 1987 after the country's advancement in the generating markets and reached the level of 20 - 34% in 1987 - 1990. This growth was driven by an increase in arrivals from countries in South and Southeast Asia (particularly from South Korea and Taiwan). In 1992, the total number of foreign visitors to Indonesia reached 3 million, most (82%) of whom were vacationers. Singapore has long been the largest market for Indonesia, but most tourists made repeated, short-term visits. Next come Japan, Malaysia, Australia, Taiwan, USA, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Korea.

Residents of Indonesia travel relatively little. Thus, in 1991, about 450,000 people traveled abroad, but they spent a lot of money during these trips. This picture is usually typical for countries where domestic and outbound tourism are in the initial stage of development.

Thailand enjoys particular popularity among Europeans due to its independence and political stability, unlike neighboring states in the region. For this reason, the country has been able to create a set of different tourism products, including historical, cultural and ethnic tourism, as well as beach tourism. Tourism is an important generator of foreign currency for the country.

Thailand is mainly visited by residents of neighboring Malaysia, and their visits are short (on average 4.4 days), and they spend little money. Then Japan and Taiwan follow, tourists from which come for longer periods and spend significantly more. After 1990, the Asian and Australian markets contracted, while the European market, on the contrary, began to grow. At the same time, the UK ranked fifth among the main tourist markets in Thailand. Tourists from Europe stay relatively long (9 - 14 days) but spend little money.

Philippines. The cultural heritage left by the Spanish colonialists opens up great prospects for the development of cultural tourism, and natural tourist resources - for such an actual type of tourism today as ecological tourism. The main countries where tourists come from are the USA and Japan.

Tourism in another country in the region - Malaysia - depends on the region's market, especially Singapore. So, in 1991, 58.3% of foreign guests came from there. Other important markets are Thailand (9.3%), Japan (7.1%) and European countries (7%). The number of tourists from China and Taiwan is rapidly increasing.

Due to the high level of economic development of Malaysia, the people of this country travel a lot. Singapore has the highest number of trips (for example, 9.5 million shopping and entertainment trips were made there in 1991), followed by Thailand and Indonesia.

An experienced traveler tries to choose an interesting and original place for each new trip, but everyone was once a beginner. When I first started traveling, like most ordinary tourists, I first of all visited those countries that I heard and knew the most about. So what are the most visited countries today? Where are the crowds of tourists?

No. 10. Mexico - 29.1 million visitors per year

Mexico is the 10th most visited country in the world. In the ranking of countries on the continent of America, Mexico ranks second in terms of attendance after the United States, even ahead of Canada! The number of visitors to Mexico in a year is more than visitors to the entire Caribbean (22.8 million people per year). The most visited region in Mexico is the Yucatan Peninsula. People come here for the magnificent beaches, ancient Mayan ruins, lush rainforests and bustling nightlife.

No. 9. Russia - 29.8 million visitors per year

In recent years, Russia has been in the top 10 most visited countries in the world, only slightly behind the UK. There are 26 sites in Russia that are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Lake Baikal, the volcanoes and geysers of Kamchatka, the Black Sea coast, the snowy mountains of Altai are just a few of the thousands of famous places to visit.

Russia is rich not only natural objects but also cultural attractions. The main cultural centers - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Novgorod, Kazan, etc. - are famous for their numerous churches, museums, historical buildings, theaters, palaces, fortifications and other objects with a rich centuries-old history.
The popularity of Russia as a country to visit is growing every year. About a million people in the Russian Federation work in the tourism sector.

No. 8. United Kingdom - 32.6 million visitors per year

The tourism business annually brings $ 17.2 billion to the state treasury. Most of the UK tourists are Europeans, the second largest group of tourists comes to the UK from the USA and Canada. London is the most visited city in the United Kingdom and the Tower is the most visited place.

No. 7. Germany - 33.0 million visitors per year

Germany is considered one of the safest tourist countries in the world. Tourism is developed in Germany both for its own citizens and for foreign ones. According to statistics, 30% of Germans prefer to rest within the country.

In Germany, 2 million people work in the tourism sector, and the share of tourism in the country's GDP is 4.5%. The cultural tourist centers of Germany are Berlin, Munich and Hamburg, they are also the most visited cities in the country. Of the natural attractions in Germany, the most famous are: Saxon Switzerland National Park, Western Pomeranian Lagoons National Park, Jasmund National Park. These parks are visited by millions of tourists every year.

No. 6. Turkey - 39.8 million visitors per year

Turkey is in 6th place in terms of attendance. This country is known for its rich cultural heritage and ethnic diversity. Turkey has a large number of historical, cultural and archaeological sites, and in addition to this, charming seaside resorts on the shores of the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. Istanbul is the most visited city in Turkey.

In 2015, the tourism industry in Turkey suffered losses due to a number of accidents related to the activities of terrorist groups. Turkey has lost a third of the entire flow of tourists.

No. 5. Italy - 48.6 million visitors per year

Visiting Italy is a dream of many people. 50 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, countless cultural artifacts, Roman and Renaissance archaeological sites, the Mediterranean coast and more! Italy rightfully occupies the 5th place in terms of attendance.

The most visited cities in Italy: Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan. 48.6 million tourists a year bring huge funds to the country's treasury.

No. 4. China - 55.6 million visitors per year

The great Wall of China, sacred mountains China, Shaolin Monastery, Huangguoshu Waterfall, Forbidden City, Three Gorges Power Plant and many other attractions make China one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. According to the World Trade Organization, by 2020, China will take the first place in the world among the countries in terms of attendance.

No. 3. Spain - 65.0 million visitors per year

Tourism is the main industry in Spain. The share of tourism is 11% of the country's GDP. People go to Spain to visit Barcelona and Madrid, to the resorts of the Mediterranean Sea, to participate in Carnivals and Ensierro (Spanish national custom, which consists in running away from bulls, cows or calves specially released from the corral).

15 national parks attract nature lovers. Spain is also famous for its ski resorts. 13 Spanish cities are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and attract tourists from all over the world.

No. 2. USA - 74.8 million visitors per year

The huge country of the USA can surprise both beginners and experienced travelers. In cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the flow of tourists does not stop all year round. Of the natural attractions of the United States: the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, the wonderful landscapes of Alaska, the beaches of Hawaii and much more. In 29 US states, tourism is the main industry that brings a lot of money to the treasury.

In the United States, the largest flows of tourists come from Mexico, Canada, and the UK. According to statistics, by 2025 the US will earn $2.5 trillion. dollars for tourism.

No. 1. France - 83.7 million visitors per year

For the most part, people are attracted by the local color and special atmosphere, in addition, France is famous for its fine cuisine and wines.

Paris is one of the most visited cities in the world thanks to the Eiffel Tower. In addition to Paris, people go to Lyon, Strasbourg and other cities. France is famous for its magnificent ski resorts, Alpine mountains, beaches, picturesque French villages, beautiful gardens and parks, and much more.

Moscow, August 8 - “Vesti. Economy". Globalization and the development of travel opportunities have led to the fact that the number of tourists traveling to foreign countries is growing every year. Accordingly, the incomes of countries that receive tourists who spend money are also growing. Some countries are more popular with tourists than others, but not all countries are equally dependent on tourist flows. The map above shows what percentage of GDP comes from tourism in different countries peace. In countries marked in red, tourism accounts for 7% of GDP and more. In countries marked in pink, tourism accounts for between 5% and 7% of GDP. In countries marked in blue, tourism accounts for between 2% and 5% of GDP. And in countries marked in blue, tourism accounts for less than 2% of GDP. The countries with the largest GDP in the tourism industry include the following: 1. USA - $488 million2. China - $224 billion3. Germany - $130.8 billion4. Japan - $106.7 billion5. United Kingdom - $103.7 billion6. France - $89.2 billion7. Mexico - $79.7 billion8. Italy - $76.3 billion9. Spain - $68.8 billion10. Brazil - $56.3 billion However, oddly enough, these countries are not the most dependent on tourism. Most of the countries most dependent on tourism are poor countries with a relatively low population and, consequently, a small GDP, a significant share of which is tourism. Below we will talk about these countries. 1. Malta - 15%

Malta is an island state in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Maltese archipelago. The main branch of the economy of Malta is tourism. The flow of tourists to Malta is constantly growing. Malta is one of the world's largest centers for learning English and welcomes students from all over the world. Due to the wide variety of urban and natural landscapes, Malta is a popular location for filming feature films. Crafts Village is a popular souvenir market among tourists, consisting of many pavilions where you can buy Maltese handicrafts. Malta is known for handicrafts made of multicolored glass. In workshops located next to the trading floors, craftsmen can make a small vase or a small rabbit in just a few minutes. All kinds of dishes, vases, figurines of animals, birds, "sleeping woman" (Maltese Venus), flowers, magnets, tiles, jewelry, lamps, clocks, photo frames and mirrors can be purchased at factory prices. Products with paintings by world-famous artists (Vincent van Gogh, Gustav Klimt) transferred to them cost several hundred euros. 2. Croatia - 15%

Croatia is a state in the south of Central Europe, partly in the west of the Balkan Peninsula. Croatia's Adriatic coast and numerous islands are a popular destination for international tourism. The tourism industry in Croatia is well developed and is one of the important components of the Croatian economy. The Adriatic coast is a popular destination for yachtsmen, divers and windsurfers. The tourist season on the Adriatic lasts from the second half of May to early October. In the regions of the country remote from the sea, the capital of Croatia Zagreb, the city of Varazdin with a well-preserved baroque ensemble and the national park Plitvice Lakes are the most popular among tourists. Seven sites in Croatia are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, another 15 are on the tentative list. The country has 8 national and 11 natural parks. 3. Thailand - 9.3%

Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia, located in the southwestern part of the Indochina peninsula and in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula. Tourism in Thailand is one of the main sectors of the country's economy. Tourism revenues make up a significant share of Thailand's GDP. Tourism Authority of Thailand was the first organization to actively promote Thailand to the world tourism markets. Currently, there are about 29 local offices of the Tourism Authority in Thailand and more than 21 offices around the world. Today Thailand is one of the main tourist centers in Southeast Asia. Tourists from Asia are primarily attracted by the historical, cultural and natural attractions in Bangkok and its environs, while residents of Western countries prefer the southern part of Thailand with its beaches and islands. A feature of tourism in Thailand is the ever-increasing number of people coming from the northern latitudes for a long-term "wintering". They usually stay in Thailand from November to April, which is the most climatically favorable time of the year. 4. Jamaica - 8.9%

Jamaica is an island nation in the Caribbean, south of Cuba, west of Haiti. The main sector of the Jamaican economy is the service sector (more than 60% of GDP and employees). Tourism in Jamaica does not stand still and is constantly evolving. Montego Bay is the second largest city in Jamaica, one of the international airports and the center of a huge resort area in the northwest of the island is located here. Nearly half of the luxury hotels with excellent sandy beaches are concentrated here. The resort has a great variety of restaurants and a lively nightlife, and in the vicinity of the city - the best golf courses on the island. The island has a traditionally well-established service, because it was here that the all-inclusive system was created. However, guests from the north are looking for not only comfort and service in Jamaica, but first of all - a unique, relaxed atmosphere that can only be found on the islands of the Caribbean. 5. Iceland - 8.2%

The main tourist flows come from the UK, Germany and the USA. Reykjavik is Iceland's tourist gateway and the center of the metropolitan area with a population of 200,000 inhabitants. The museum of folk art tells about the history of the city under open sky Arbaejarsafn. In the west of the country you can find all kinds of volcanoes found in Iceland, and mineral water it comes to the surface either cool or beating with hot pillars, as, for example, from the largest key in Europe - Deildartunguhver, where the water speed reaches 48 l / s. The best indicator of volcanism is the ancient Snefelsjokul crater, located under the glacier and which is a National Park. The landscape is marked by an abundance of islands, ice-age shaped waterfalls, valleys and fjords. Birds living in the Breidafjordur bay attract tourists to their "bird markets", three of which are the largest in Europe. Located in the western part of the Eyjafjord, it is popular with skiers. Here you can observe the "midnight sun" - a phenomenon when the luminary does not set, but only touches the horizon and rises again. In the east of the region, the eruption of the Krafla volcano left picturesque frozen lava flows.