BERLIN — Last year was “an exceptionally strong year for international travel”, according to the latest stats released this week at ITB Berlin 2018.

Worldwide the number of outbound trips has increased by 6.5%, reaching nearly 1.2 billion international trips in 2017.

And for the first time in years terror sensitivity has decreased and destinations are perceived as ‘safer’ than before, according to findings based on the latest results of IPK’s World Travel Monitor, analyzing outbound travel behavior in more than 60 countries worldwide and covering over 90% of the global outbound demand.

Europe was the strongest source region for international travel in 2017 with an overall increase of 7% compared to last year, followed by North and Latin America with both 6% and Asia with 5%.

Looking at destinations on a country level, Spain took the lead, with the U.S. and Germany ranking second and third. France and Italy are the fourth and fifth most successful destinations.

City trips have been the main growth driver with an increase of 18%, while sun & beach holidays, which represent the largest holiday market share, grew by 9%. Tour holidays worldwide decreased by 1%.

Almost a quarter of the world’s travellers, 24%, said they felt the destination they visited was overcrowded. However only 9% said that this overcrowding actually affected the quality of their outbound trip.

Cities cited for overcrowding were Mexico City (23%), Shanghai (22%), Venice (20%), Beijing (19%), Hong Kong (18%), Istanbul, Amsterdam and Florence (17%) and Barcelona (16%).

The study also revealed that for 37% of international travellers, the recent instability and terror warnings will have an influence on their travel plans for 2018. That’s down from 41% in October 2017.

IPK International anticipates global outbound trips to increase by 5% in 2018.