Nothing has been the same since. These sites beat out the classics, cities such as Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Mexico City, Acapulco, Munich, Rome, Stockholm and Sydney. In 1998, the overall numbers increased 4.6 percent, with total passengers at 25,863,466. Of the international travel segment, Canada is the most frequented, with Asia coming second, Europe third and Mexico fourth. And this includes comments on the increase in travel to Asia.
Numbers reveal nothing about motivation.
It's possible, for example, that the people flying to and from Asia are doing so to take advantage of the business climate there by trading goods rather than by conducting traditional business or even pleasure. In fact, no one sees any real pattern to air travel today. There was a time, Henrichs feels, when Asian travel was all the rage. He dates that to the opening of China to Americans, which occurred in the 1970s. But many travelers find Asia too complicated to pursue, as some countries will not allow Americans to travel without tour guides.