The table displays the changes in the number of tourists from 5 continents who travelled internationally in 4 different years from 1990 to 2005. Overall, it is evident from the graph that all 5 continents witnessed an upward trend in the figure for international travellers, indicating a rise in the total number of tourists travelling abroad each year. Moreover, Europe and America had the highest number of people travelling outside their countries, and the opposite was true for Africa and the Middle East.
In detail, the number of tourists travelling externally in Europe, Asia and the Pacific grew dramatically. In Europe, the figure rose from 280.2 million in 1990 to 400.2 million in 2005. In Asia and the Pacific, the statistic climbed from 60.2 million to 135.8 million over the same period. By contrast, Africa and the Middle East showed a slow increase in the figure for international tourists. In Africa, the data was 18.2 million in the first year of the period, then rose by 10.5 million in 2005. Over the 15 years, the Middle East’s figure increased steadily from 9,8 million to 15.8 million.
In 1990, America had 80.5 million people going abroad for travelling. Then the number increased exponentially to 118.2 million in the next 10 years. Contrary to the soaring trend in the number of other continents, America’s figure declined marginally by 5 million in 2005.
From 1990 to 1995, the total figure of global citizens travelling internationally surged from 448.9 million to 615.2 million. The figure continued to display a significant upturn to 669.2 million in 2000 and 693.7 million in 2005.