Table 1 analyses the changes in the world tourism trade from 1986 till 2006 in the number of exports. To begin with, the most evident conclusion from this table is that developed countries of the West such as Germany and the United States were dominant tourist countries during the last 20 years. Germany ranked first place before unification in 1986, the second after unification in 1996 and returned its palm branch in 2006. There is no denying the importance of the fact that the United States ranked second place in 1986, first in 1996 and again second in 2006. It should be noted that these facts prove that notwithstanding dominant apologies of tourism development in the third world, it only creates the vision of progress which is difficult to compare to the result of most Western countries.
From the table, we see that such quickly developing countries as China strengthened their position in global tourist markets. In 1986 China ranked only 16th place among world tourist Meccas, however arguably due to its economic and political liberalisation, it managed to attract new tourists in 90th and finally reached its 3rd rank in 2006. The case of China may be described as a successful example that may serve as a mind map for the countries seeking to use their tourism potential effectively. Among other success cases, one should mention Malaysia, which grew from the 31st rank in 1986 to the 19th in 2006, the United Arab Emirates, which now rank the 21st place in the charter of tourism champions. The rank of tourism importers repeats the picture of developed countries in the lead, with the only exception that Germany exchanged its first place with the United States. The development of China puts it in third place, and these positions are likely to grow.
