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Category: Europe (Page 6 of 8)

The 13 most peaceful countries in the world – in honor of International Peace Day

2018-09-21 /

According to the 2018 Global Peace Index:

  1. Iceland
  2. New Zealand
  3. Austria
  4. Portugal
  5. Denmark
  6. Canada
  7. Czech Republic
  8. Singapore
  9. Japan
  10. Ireland
  11. Slovenia
  12. Switzerland
  13. Australia

The Global Peace Index is developed by the Institute for Economics & Peace, an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable and tangible measure of human wellbeing and progress.

IEP is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, with offices in New York, The Hague, Mexico City, and Brussels. It works with a wide range of partners internationally and collaborates with intergovernmental organisations on measuring and communicating the economic value of peace.

The chart is also available here.

UNWTO report confirms another record year for tourism, for most

2018-09-21 /

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s 2018 Tourism Highlights, the total number of international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) grew 7 percent from 2016 to 2017.

International tourist arrivals reached a total of 1.323 billion in 2017, some 84 million more than the previous year and a new record. The sector has now seen uninterrupted growth in arrivals for eight straight years.

2017 was the eighth consecutive year of above- average growth in international tourism following the 2009 global economic crisis. The growth in the travel and tourism industry has been fuelled by the global economic upswing, resulting in strong outbound demand.

By region, Europe and Africa saw bigger than average growth of 8 and 9 percent, respectively. By subregion, North Africa and Southern and Mediterranean Europe saw the greatest increases in 2017, reflecting strong demand for destinations along the Mediterranean.

When looking at sheer numbers, Europe continues to lead with almost half of the world’s total international arrivals, at 671 million. Europe was also home to six of the ten most visited countries in 2017, with France remaining in the lead.

Spain overtook the USA for second place as international tourism to the USA was down almost 4%.  Continue reading

The Economist ranks the world’s most livable cities

2018-09-11 /

Each year, the Economist Intelligence Unit release its annual Global Livability Index which measuring the most livable large cities in the world. In this year’s report, Vienna, Austria has succeeded in displacing Melbourne, Australia from the stop spot, which it previously held for a record seven consecutive years.

The Economist says:

The concept of liveability is simple: it assesses which locations around the world provide the best or the worst living conditions.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s liveability rating quantifies the challenges that might be presented to an individual’s lifestyle in 140 cities worldwide. Each city is assigned a score for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories of Stability, Healthcare, Culture and environment, Education and Infrastructure.

The 20 top rankings are populated with cities in Europe (9), Australia (4), Japan (2), New Zealand (1), and Canada (4).

Honolulu was the highest U.S. city at number 23. The next highest American city was Pittsburgh in 32nd position. Manchester was the highest ranked in the UK at number 35.

Here are the top 50:

1. Vienna, Austria

2. Melbourne, Australia

3. Osaka, Japan

4. Calgary, Canada

5. Sydney, Australia

6.  Vancouver, Canada

7. (Tied) Tokyo, Japan

7. (Tied) Toronto, Canada

9. Copenhagen, Denmark

10. Adelaide, Australia

Continue reading

Chinese tourists swarm Europe

2018-09-09 /

Researches by the European Travel Commission (ETC) and ForwardKeys, a global travel data firm, reported that in the first four months of this year, Chinese arrivals in Europe were up 9.5 percent against the same period of last year, and up 7.9 percent for the May-August season.

When compared with the rest of the world, Europe is gaining in market share, as the comparable worldwide figures for Chinese arrivals were 6.9 percent up for the first four months and 6.2 percent up for May-August.

Tourism officials from eastern China’s Shandong province told Xinhua that in the first quarter of the year the province of over 100-million people saw 30 percent more trips to Europe.

More at Xinhua

 

The 10 least-visited European countries

2018-08-18 /

The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) recently released their annual Tourism Highlights report which tracks international tourist arrivals.

Here is a list of the European countries with the least international tourist arrivals (Some, I imagine, is simply due to their size):

  • San Marino – 60,000
  • Liechtenstein – 69,000
  • Moldova – 121,000
  • Monaco – 336,000
  • Macedonia – 510,000
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina – 777,000
  • Luxembourg – 1,054,000
  • Armenia – 1,260,000
  • Serbia – 1,281,000
  • Montenegro – 1,662,000

Of note, the UNWTO did not publish the data for Belarus and Slovakia.

Could the Peugeot Open Europe program be the best way to tour Europe?

2018-08-10 /

European road trip anyone?

Thrillist:

The best way to get around Europe, we discovered, is to grab a friend, maybe two, and take out a short-term lease on a car. Here’s how you, too, can have a trip you’ll remember for the rest of your life — even if you’re feeling first-world broke.

So long as you’re at least 18, have a valid driver’s license, and live outside the European Union, you can pay for what’s called a buy-back lease through the Peugeot Open Europe program. This gets you a factory-fresh car to call your own and take anywhere within 42 countries, sans mileage restrictions, for up to 175 days — equivalent to returning a January 1 rental on June 24.

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