According to the latest survey of global travel statistics from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), international tourist arrivals have continued to grow at a sustained rate for the first eight months of this year.

The latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer delivered indications that the sustained growth of international tourist arrival figures over the past three years will continue in the remainder of 2007.

This means that 2007 will be the fourth year of growth. Year-end growth is estimated at 5.7 per cent, putting international arrivals to 880-900 million people.

The survey also shows that emerging destinations in Asia and the Pacific as well as Africa and the Middle East have been the main growth drivers.

Travel expenditure figures have also continued to rise, in line with the international arrivals. The strongest growth has come from Brazil, Argentina, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation.

Of the top five outbound markets, German, the US and the UK all recorded ‘reasonable’ rises during the first six to eight months of 2007, although the available data for France and Japan points to stagnation.