4. EMERGING DESTINATIONS
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.
Asia’s growth was illustrated back in 2012 when Bangkok
was the number one global destination in terms of
international overnight visitors, accoring to MasterCard’s
Global Destinations Cities Index. London overtook
Bangkok as the front runner in 2014 due to the Thai
political situation. Bangkok’s potential should allow for a
quick comeback if it is not impacted by further negative
influences like terrorism and political issues.