Europe continues to be far and away the world's top travel destination, both for businesspeople and for tourists seeking to immerse themselves in the history, cultures, traditions and cuisines of the continent. For those with an interest in the past, there are the fabulous art galleries, museums and old buildings, while those with an outdoor bent have a wide range of opportunities from the lush golf courses of Ireland and Scotland to the hiking trails of the Pyrenees, and from the icy ski resorts of Scandinavia and the Alps to the sunshine of the Algarve or the Mediterranean.
Europe generally provides high quality transport, accommodation and restaurant facilities to tourists though those in Western Europe can be expensive compared to other tourist destinations. Europe has none of the health risks associated with parts of the developing world. While the expansion of the EU and the removal of internal travel barriers makes travel within the continent efficient and easy, visitors from outside the EU can expect to experience increasing bureaucracy as the continent addresses the threats of terrorists and illegal immigration.
According to the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), during 2003 Europe experienced no growth in international tourism arrivals as the Western and Southern / Mediterranean sub-regions felt the combined effects of a weak economy and the strong Euro. International arrivals in Western Europe showed a fall of 3.7 million (3%), while Southern Europe closed the year flat and Central and Eastern Europe repeated their successes of 2002.
