dossier sur le tourisme et le développement durable

Tourist flows
1. International tourism
4
Tourist flows
1.1. The growth of tourism in the Mediterranean
International tourism has been a growing sector of activity at various speeds in the world, in the
Mediterranean and in other large tourist regions for several decades now. The international
arrivals in the Mediterranean countries rose from 58 million in 1970 to reach more than 220
million (multiplier: 3.8) in 2000 and 228 million in 2002. For the same period, the worldwide
arrivals went up from 165 to more than 687 million (multiplier: 4.1) in 2000 and 703 million in
2002. In these thirty years the average annual growth rate reached 4.8% at worldwide level and
4.5% for the Mediterranean countries. Consequently, the relative proportion for the countries of
the Mediterranean has slowly declined, from 35% of worldwide tourism in 1970 to 32% in 2000
(Table 1).
Table 1 : International arrivals in the Mediterranean and in the world
World
(1000)
Mediterranean
countries
(1000)
Europe
(1000)
Eastern Asia /
Pacific
(1000)
Med. / World
%
1970 165 787 58 085 113 000 5 331 35,0
1975 222 290 77 582 153 859 8 657 34,9
1980 285 997 95 815 188 072 20 969 33,5
1985 327 188 116 346 213 009 30 839 35,6
1990 455 900 153 374 280 600 57 700 33,6
1995 550 400 162 677 322 300 85 600 29,6
2000 687 300 220 875 392 700 115 300 32,1
2001 684 100 220 646 390 800 121 100 32,1
2002 702 600 227 649 399 800 131 300 31,5
Millions
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
Source: WTO
0
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
World
Mediterranean
countries
Europe
East. Asia / Pacific
1.2. International visitors from medium and long distances, short
distance intra-regional visitors
International tourism in the Mediterranean is made up of visitors from various origins.
The better known and the most coveted influx is doubtlessly international tourism from medium
or long distances. The middle classes of western nations (Western and Northern Europe) are an
essential part of mass tourism in the Mediterranean. As they use the services of tour operators
and generally patronise hotels and fly for the longer or more isolated distances, they are the
most visible proportion of the Mediterranean tourists because they can be easily calculated. The