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World’s Top 20 Fastest-growing Tourist Destinations 2019 Revealed

World’s Top 20 Fastest-growing Tourist Destinations 2019 Revealed
Gilan, Iran © Unsplash

Wanderlust is on the rise, and that’s leading to a shake-up among the word’s most traveled tourist destinations.

Trips abroad were up 4 percent in 2019 with 1.5 billion flights overseas compared to 2018, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Traditionally popular travel destinations remained at the top of the list, such as France with more than 90 million visitors in 2019 and Spain with 83.8 million. However, their list of the fastest-growing tourist go-tos — which included war-torn nations and regions recently ravaged by natural disaster — revealed some surprise hits among vacationers last year, the Independent reported.

Myanmar (formerly Burma) saw the highest spike in tourists with a 40.2% increase, followed by Puerto Rico, who welcomed a 31.2% jump despite the devastation of 2017’s Hurricane Maria, from which the US territory continues to recover. Embattled Iran came in third with a 27.9% rise in tourism, though its standing is expected to drop following the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani by US military.

This trend was reflected in data from countries such as Sri Lanka, where terror attacks over Easter last year contributed to an 18% drop in tourism. Hong Kong, too, took a 18.8% hit, most likely due to ongoing protests against their government.

But there’s hope for Iran to rise again, as countries such as Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia have all made comebacks since suffering widespread terror attacks during the past few years. They rose 21.1%, 14% and 13.6%, respectively.

The “-stans” of central Asia, namely Uzbekistan (27.3%), Azerbaijan (11.4%) and Kazakhstan (10%), all made the top 20 for fastest growing travel destinations.

The Americas was the region with the least growth at just 2%, and travel to the US in particular fell by 1.3%.

UNWTO’s top-20 fastest-growing travel destinations

1. Myanmar 40.2%

2. Puerto Rico 31.2%

3. Iran 27.9%

4. Uzbekistan 27.3%

5. Montenegro 21.4%

6. Egypt 21.1%

7. Vietnam 16.2%

8. Philippines 15.1%

9. Maldives 14.9%

10. Bahamas 14.6%

11. Qatar 14.5%

12. Armenia 14.4%

12. South Korea 14.4%

13. Turkey 14.0%

14. Bosnia and Herzegovina 13.7%

15. Tunisia 13.6%

16. Laos 11.5%

17. Azerbaijan 11.4%

18. Israel 10.5%

19. Lithuania 10.1%

20. Kazakhstan 10.0%

Akhyari Hananto

I began my career in the banking industry in 1997, and stayed approx 6 years in it. This industry boost his knowledge about the economic condition in Indonesia, both macro and micro, and how to More understand it. My banking career continued in Yogyakarta when I joined in a program funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB),as the coordinator for a program aimed to help improve the quality of learning and teaching process in private universities in Yogyakarta. When the earthquake stroke Yogyakarta, I chose to join an international NGO working in the area of ?disaster response and management, which allows me to help rebuild the city, as well as other disaster-stricken area in Indonesia. I went on to become the coordinator for emergency response in the Asia Pacific region. Then I was assigned for 1 year in Cambodia, as a country coordinator mostly to deliver developmental programs (water and sanitation, education, livelihood). In 2009, he continued his career as a protocol and HR officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya, and two years later I joined the Political and Economic Section until now, where i have to deal with extensive range of people and government officials, as well as private and government institution troughout eastern Indonesia. I am the founder and Editor-in-Chief in Good News From Indonesia (GNFI), a growing and influential social media movement, and was selected as one of The Most Influential Netizen 2011 by The Marketeers magazine. I also wrote a book on "Fundamentals of Disaster Management in 2007"?, "Good News From Indonesia : Beragam Prestasi Anak Bangsa di dunia"? which was luanched in August 2013, and "Indonesia Bersyukur"? which is launched in Sept 2013. In 2014, 3 books were released in which i was one of the writer; "Indonesia Pelangi Dunia"?, "Indonesia The Untold Stories"? and "Growing! Meretas Jalan Kejayaan" I give lectures to students in lectures nationwide, sharing on full range of issues, from economy, to diplomacy Less
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