More than 800 million people traveled internationally last year, breaking previous records, according to a new report from the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization. Tourism was up 4 percent in Europe and the Middle East, 7.6 percent in Asia-Pacific and 8.1percent in Africa – and 4.5 percent overall.
Guess what region had the weakest growth? North America, where tourism was up just 2 percent. While one might think the weaker U.S. dollar would encourage travelers to head to America, tourism from Western Europe to the US fell 3 percent last year. According to the report, “widespread confusion over U.S. visa and passport requirements for foreign visitors” is to (hat tip: Shari Young Kuchenbecker).
