The number of tourists fell in 2001 for the first time in 20 years, in a trend worsened, but not caused, by the September 11 attacks in the US, the World Tourism Organisation said today.
Around 693 million people travelled in 2001, a 0.6% drop from the 697 million that went abroad in 2000, the Madrid-based group said.
'International tourism underwent a serious crisis, but it has proved its resistance once again,' the group said.
The regions most affected by the September 11 terrorist attacks, in which suspected Islamic radicals crashed airplanes into New York and Washington, were southeast Asia (which saw a 24% drop in tourists after September 11), North and South America (20% drop) and the Middle East (11% drop), the organisation said.
France remained the top tourist destination in 2001, welcoming 76.5 million tourists - up 1.2% from the year before. The US gave up its second place spot to Spain after recording a 10.6% decrease in tourists to 45.5 million.
With 39 million tourists, Italy came in fourth, although that number represents a 5.3% drop from 2000.
China, which entered the World Trade Organisation and won the right to host the 2008 Olympics, saw a 6.2% rise in tourism to come in fifth, welcoming 33.2 million people into the country. Britain took the number six spot, registering a 7.4% drop in tourism with 23.4 million tourists.
Preliminary figures showed that international tourism brought in _515 billion in 2001, a 0.5% increase from 2000. Over half of all tourism dollars were spent in Europe, with the Americas getting 26%, east Asia 18%, Africa 2.5%, the Middle East 2.4% and southeast Asia 1%.
