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International tourism receipts reached USD 1159 billion worldwide in 2013, up from USD 1078 billion in 2012. These figures provided by the United Nations Tourism Organization (UNWTO) underline the vital importance of the tourism in the world economy. It represents 9% of the total GDP, 6% of of the world's exports, but also 1 in 11 jobs. This activity has become over the past 6 decades, with 25 million international tourists in 1950 to 1087 million in 2013, one of the fastest-growing economic sectors in the world.The market share of emerging economies increased from 30% in 1980 to 47% in 2013 and is expected to reach 57% by 2030. Among the world's top tourism destinations: France tops the ranking of international tourists arrivals with 84.7 million visitors and is 3rd in international tourism receipts with USD 56 billion in 2013. The US rank 2nd in arrivals with 70 million, but 1st in receipts with USD 140 billion. Spain ranks 3rd in arrivals with 61 million visitors, but 2nd in receipts with USD 60 billion.If we look at the 2 major emerging markets, we see that India welcomed 7 million visitors in 2013 and that China with USD 129 billion strengthens its lead in global tourism expenditure.Today, shopping plays a key role in the choice of a tourist destination.The Chinese tourists coming to Europe have an average budget of USD9.000. Rather impressive! However, modest compared with the tourists coming from the Middle East who each spend during their stay in France an estimated average of USD 6.500 daily. And it is therefore no surprise to note that sales at shops in airports are expected to grow by 73% between 2013 and 2019! Airports are landing areas which are more and more being turned into shopping malls. In this context, almost all countries in the world will continue to invest massively in infrastructure for receiving tourists, including airports, ports, hotels and Museums. This is good news for future economic development.

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