In Spain, 59.1 million tourists visited last year. In the first quarter, their number grew by 5.3%, but then decreased by 0.9%, and in the third quarter – already by 5.2%. Italy (43.7 million tourists in 2007) tourists disliked from the very beginning of 2008: in the first quarter, the country was visited by 2.2% fewer people than in the same period last year. In the second quarter, however, the number of tourists increased by 2.5%. But over the first seven months of 2008, tourist flow increased by only 0.8%.
According to the World Tourism Organization, at the fourth priority European destination – Great Britain – tourist flow increased in the first eight months of this year by 1.7% (in 2007 the country was visited by 30.7 million tourists). Closing the top five is Germany, which also consistently attracts tourists, and in the first half of 2008 their number increased by 3.3% (last year's figures – 24.4 million travelers).
Destinations in Central and Eastern Europe also attracted increased interest from tourists in 2008 – the number of travelers increased by 2.9% compared to the previous year (total European destinations saw 1.7% more people than in 2007). Good results were shown by Bulgaria (17.2%), Latvia (9%), Lithuania (9%) and Estonia (5%). However, these countries are small, and therefore a decline in tourist activity in these destinations is expected by the end of the year.
Travel.ru also reports other results: the Czech Republic increased tourist flow by 3.6%, Russia – by 5%, Slovakia – by 13.5%. This year, 4% fewer tourists visited Romania, and Poland – by 8.7%. This is partly due to Poland losing tourists from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, as the country joined the Schengen area in January 2008, and getting a visa to Poland became more difficult.