Asia and the Pacific (+13%), the first region to rebound from the crisis in 2009 continued to grow strongly in 2010. The Middle East (+14%) also experienced rapid growth in 2010, though in comparison to the particularly depressed figures in the previous year. The signs of economic recovery in the Americas favoured a fairly strong rebound in tourism (+6%). Africa (+7%) was the only region to experience positive tourism results in 2009, and continued to grow throughout 2010 benefiting from the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. In Europe (+3%), the region most seriously affected by the global economic crisis, the average growth in international tourist arrivals was lower than in other regions due to the air traffic disorder caused by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano and the economic uncertainty affecting the euro zone