International tourism has grown at a faster rate than world trade during the past twenty years. Between 1950 and 1966 the average annual growth of tourism receipts was 12 per cent as against 7.7 per cent in the value of world merchandise exports. (i) However, the difference between the two growth rates has narrowed in recent years; in the period 1958 to 1970 tourism receipts grew by 10.2 per cent per annum while world exports rose by 9.3 per cent per annum.