Its most recent report indicated that 1.3 billion visitors visited foreign countries in 2023.
The capital, Madrid: Wednesday marker the rebranding of the Madrid-based World Tourism Organization as the UN Tourism Organisation, an official decision that clarifies the organisation's affiliation with the United Nations.
The new name and logo, which depict a human figure in motion with the tagline "Bringing the world closer", were revealed at the opening ceremony of the FITUR Tourism Congress in Madrid on Wednesday. UN Tourism said the change aimed to “move away from acronyms and adopting a more approachable stance".
Since its inception in 1974, the Madrid-based intergovernmental organisation has advocated for tourism and facilitated international trade between countries.
The organisation, comprised 160 member states, regularly publishes estimates and forecasts of tourist arrivals by country and region and has regional offices in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and Morocco.
According to its most recent report, released last week, international visitors increased by 44 per cent to 1.3 billion in 2023.
That amounted to a mere 88% of the total number of travellers who embarked on international journeys in 2019, the final complete year before the implementation of worldwide travel restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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