A、763 million. B、643 million. C、553 million. D、663 million. A

We all know what a significant number of obstacles the tourist industry had to face between 2001 and 2003. From military conflicts to SARS, passing through terrorism and a sluggish economic situation, all negative factors came together to damage tourism results. The impact was significant and rather global. For the first time since 1982, 2003 shows a drop in international tourist arrivals (-1.5%).
    However, the period 2004 - 2005 was not much calmer. From the devastating Tsunami to the more recent hurricanes distressing the coasts of the US and Mexico, without forgetting several terrorist attacks and the surge in oil prices. The good news though was that world economy resisted in spite all, and grew by 5% in 2004 and is set to increase by 4% in 2005. And the other good news is that notwithstanding all these threats, world tourism showed again its resilience with such events having only a limited impact in terms of geographical and temporal spread.
    International tourist arrivals grew in 2004 to an exceptional total of 763 million, which represents an overall increase of over 10%. This result was much due to the unprecedented recovery of tourism in Asia with a growth of 28% over the trouble year of SARS. Likewise international tourism receipts grew by 9% after dropping 3% the previous year, whereas in Asia this growth was of almost 25%.
    And growth continues in 2005. According to the latest data published by WTO in the October issue of the WTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourist arrivals grew by almost 6% up to July, which represents an increase of 25 million arrivals worldwide. Such growth trend was particularly strong in Asia, where after an extraordinary 28% growth in 2004, arrivals were up by 9%, again above the world average and above the long term forecast growth of around 6% a year. 2005 is estimated to end with a growth in tourist arrivals of 5% to 6%, while estimates for Asia indicate a projected 10% increase, much driven by China’s exceptional performance, where tourist arrivals grew by an extraordinary 14% until October.