Outbound tourism main species in Western European countries
Outbound tourism is a vacation trip to foreign countries of the world. Thanks to globalization and the simplification of the visa regime by many states, international travel has recently gained incredible popularity. Today, outbound tourism is not only a form of recreation, but also one of the forms of economic, political, social and cultural ties between states. Outbound tourism, as a separate category of trips, is developing extremely dynamically.
If in 1950 25 million people made international trips for tourism, now this figure is more than half a billion people a year. For many countries, international tourism is a solid or even the main source of income from the export of goods and services. In countries such as Panama, Cyprus, Haiti, tourism revenues exceed half of all export earnings. And even quite European and economically developed Spain, Greece and Austria receive more than a third of all export earnings from tourism through tourism.
Outbound tourism in Western European countries
Outbound tourism is most developed in Western European countries, where in addition to numerous historical and cultural sites and recreational resources, there is an excellent leisure infrastructure. The region accounts for at least 60% of the financial turnover of international tourism. About 20% falls on the states of both Americas and about 10% on Asian, African countries, Australia and Oceania. The states participating in the tourist exchange are divided into suppliers of tourists and their host countries. The first include the United States, Western European countries, Canada and Australia. The most popular international tourism destinations are Cyprus, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Egypt and Mexico.
Types of outbound tourism
Being an entire sector of the economy, outbound tourism is classified in the same way as tourism in general. Depending on the purpose of the trip, it can be a resort, wellness, educational or active. The most popular type of outbound tourism are sightseeing trips to get acquainted with the cultural, historical and natural attractions. With the development of international economic relations, business outbound tourism is gaining popularity with the aim of conducting business negotiations and establishing contacts with foreign partners. Traditional directions of international tourism are trips to the resorts of subtropical countries, shopping tours, as well as trips for the purpose of treatment and recovery.
Outbound tourism is a relatively new type of recreation for Ukraine, since in the Soviet years it was extremely problematic to travel to another country. According to the State Border Service, in 2010, 17.3 million Ukrainian citizens, that is, more than a third of the country’s inhabitants, traveled abroad. Of course, far from all of these people went on an international trip with the goal of relaxation. However, the figures for traditionally tourist destinations are also solid. For example, Turkey was visited by 440 thousand inhabitants of Ukraine, and Egypt – 330 thousand people.
However, today there are clear trends in the shift of outbound tourism flows from the Middle East to the countries of Southern Europe. Ukrainian tour operators record a serious increase in demand for permits to such countries as Greece, Croatia and Montenegro. To a large extent, this is due to a significant reduction in prices for tourism services in these countries and the liberalization of the visa regime. In addition, among Ukrainian tourists, the popularity of traveling to Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Georgia, and exotic countries of Southeast Asia and South America is growing. Experts predict that with the overcoming of the economic crisis, the popularity of outbound tourism among residents of Ukraine will grow at a fairly high pace.
Being an entire sector of the economy, outbound tourism is classified in the same way as tourism in general. Depending on the purpose of the trip, it can be a resort, wellness, educational or active. The most popular type of outbound tourism are sightseeing trips to get acquainted with the cultural, historical and natural attractions. With the development of international economic relations, business outbound tourism is gaining popularity with the aim of conducting business negotiations and establishing contacts with foreign partners. Traditional directions of international tourism are trips to the resorts of subtropical countries, shopping tours, as well as trips for the purpose of treatment and recovery.
