CONSIDERATIONS ON THE TRENDS OF INTERNATIONAL TOURIST FLOWS

The paper purpose was the purpose to analyze the flow of international tourists in the period 1980-2012 uisng the empirical data provided by UNWTO. In 2012, tourist arrivals reached 1,035 and in 2030 it is expected to exceed 1,800 million. The market share of main geographical regions in 2012 was the following one: Europe 51.61 %, Asia and the Pacific 22.57 %, the Americas 15.75 %, Africa 5.06 % and the Middle East 5.01 %. The top 10 countries receiving tourists and their market share at world level was the following one: France 8.21 %, the USA 6.63 %, China 5.71 %, Spain 5.71 %, Italy 4.59 %, Turkey 3.53 %, Germany 3 %, United Kingdom 2.90 %, Russia 2.54 %, Malayezia 2.47 %. All these 10 countries were visited by 457.9 million tourists in 2012, representing 45.75 % of the world tourist arrivals. Europe is the main source of international tourists, supplying over 50 % of the world tourists, followed by Asia and the Pacific with 23 %, the Americas with 17 %, the Middle East with 3 % and Africa with 3 %. Europe generates the most important tourism flows.