With the growing middle class and their search for value
for money and different travel interests, many destinations
in the emerging and developing regions (Asia, South
America, Eastern Mediterranean, Middle and East Europe,
Middle East and Africa) have managed to develop and
exploit their tourism potential to attract and retain visitors.
These countries will soon have more international arrivals
than developed markets (North America, Western Europe,
developed areas of Asia and the Pacific). In 1950, while
almost all of international arrivals (97 percent) were
concentrated in only 15 destination countries, this share
had fallen to 56 percent by 2009. Currently there are close
to 100 countries receiving over 1 million arrivals a year.