Growth of Tourism in Europe

Income, from European and international tourists offsets unfavorable balances of trade in most European countries. The attractive scenery, combined with a long and fascinating historical heritage, provides numerous tourist attractions throughout the continent. An example is Switzerland, with its unsurpassed Alpine landscape combined with lakes, picturesque cities, historical buildings, and charming farming scenes on the populated central plateau. Swiss hotel, restaurant, and recreation site management have become models for the world.

Europe has varied environments from subtropical to polar, each with its attraction for the tourist. Major cities--such as London, Paris, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Vienna, Madrid, Rome, Athens, Budapest, and Moscow--attract millions of visitors and billions of dollars each year. In the EC countries about 2 percent of gross domestic product comes from tourism, with an annual growth rate of 3 to 10 percent. There are some negative effects of rapid tourism growth. These include the pollution of lakes and rivers, overcrowding of beach areas, and misuse of rural, mountainous, and scenic land by increasing numbers of recreational visitors. Large numbers of foreigners also tend to change the culture of an area, often undesirably.