Some 808 million people took a foreign holiday during the past year despite the threat of terrorism and natural disasters, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) said Tuesday.

The tragic tsunami at the end of 2004 and strings of terror attacks in London, Egypt and Jordan last year failed to shake the globe's determined holidaymakers with the number of tourists rising by 5.5 percent compared to the previous year.

According to WTO figures, 808 million people took overseas holidays in 2005.

"In 2005 international tourism sustained the sharp upturn that began in 2004 in spite of the various tragic events it had to contend with," said the Madrid-based organization.

It also said there could well be a 4 to 5 percent increase in the number of international tourists this year.

Tourism revival has been placed at the top of the agenda in tsunami-hit countries like Thailand, where two men convicted of raping and killing 21-year-old British tourist Katherine Horton at a beach resort were sentenced to death after a speedy trial earlier this month.

Tourists to Thailand rose by 10 percent last year despite the tsunami. Meanwhile, a total of 55.6 million tourists visited Spain, a rise of 6 percent from 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2006)