Preliminary figures from the UN World Tourism Organisation show that there was a 7% global rise in international arrivals in 2017 reaching a total of 1.32 billion.

But one of the destinations to see a year-on-year fall in visitor numbers was the US while the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has already revealed that its international arrivals rose from 76 million in 2016 to more than 82 million last year. The full UNWTO figures will be published in the spring.

UNWTO said that Europe “recorded extraordinary results for such a large and rather mature region” with arrivals rising by 8% year-on-year to 671 million boosted particularly by Mediterranean destinations.

Elsewhere, tourism numbers increased by 8% in Africa, 6% in the Asia-Pacific region, 5% in the Middle East and by 3% in the Americas.

Arrivals increased in North America with “robust” figures in both Mexico and Canada helping to more than offset the fall in visitors to the US.

UNWTO said it expected “strong momentum” to continue in 2018 and predicted a further increase in international arrivals of 4-5%.

Zurab Pololikashvili, UNWTO’s secretary-general, added: “International travel continues to grow strongly, consolidating the tourism sector as a key driver in economic development.

“As the third export sector in the world, tourism is essential for job creation and the prosperity of communities around the world.

“Yet as we continue to grow we must work closer together to ensure this growth benefits every member of every host community, and is in line with the sustainable development goals.”