If the beaches seem a little less crowded this year, don’t be too surprised. International tourism took a knock during the global recession, as our charts show, with annual growth slipping to just 1.9% in 2008. By the time full figures for 2009 become available, it may show an actual decline of perhaps 4 to 6%. That’s to be expected: International travel tends to respond quite sharply to economic slowdowns, while domestic tourism (people holidaying in their own countries) is more resilient. In OECD countries, about three out of four tourists are domestic.

Despite any recent declines, tourism remains one of the world’s great growth industries. According to the UN’s World Tourism Organisation, just 25 million people travelled abroad for holidays in 1950. Today, the figure is more than 800 million, representing an annual growth rate of about 6.5%.

Just as it’s been for the past 15 years, France remains the world’s favourite destination, attracting just under 80 million visitors in 2008 (the most recent year for which full data is available). The United States is second, with about 58 million visitors from abroad, while Spain is third, with just over 57 million.

data (xls)

What about the long-term trends? China – ranked No. 4 on the list of top destinations – is probably a sign of things to come. Between the end of the Second World War and the 1970s, Europe and North America accounted for most of the world’s tourism. In more recent years, the Asia-Pacific has become a bigger player, overtaking the Americas to become the No. 2 regional destination, with just over 20% of international arrivals. Europe’s share has fallen, but still accounts for over half of arrivals worldwide.