The World Tourism rankings are compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization as part of their World Tourism Barometer publication, which is released up to six times per year. In the publication, UN regions and subregions are ranked by the number of international visitor arrivals, by the revenue generated by inbound tourism, and by the expenditures of outbound travelers.
Most visited destinations by international tourist arrivalsEdit
In 2019 there were 1.459 billion international tourist arrivals worldwide, with a growth of 3.7% as compared to 2018.[1] The top 10 international tourism destinations in 2019 were:
| Rank | Destination | International tourist arrivals (2019)[1] |
International tourist arrivals (2018)[1] |
Change (2018 to 2019) (%) |
Change (2017 to 2018) (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  France |
- | 89.4 million | - |  2.9
|
| 2 |  Spain |
83.5 million | 82.8 million | 0.8 |
1.1
|
| 3 |  United States |
79.3 million | 79.7 million |  0.6 |
3.3
|
| 4 |  China |
65.7 million | 62.9 million | 4.5 |
3.6
|
| 5 |  Italy |
64.5 million | 61.6 million | 4.8 |
5.7
|
| 6 |  Turkey |
51.2 million | 45.8 million | 11.9 |
21.7
|
| 7 |  Mexico |
45.0 million | 41.3 million | 9.0 |
5.1
|
| 8 |  Thailand |
39.8 million | 38.2 million | 4.3 |
7.3
|
| 9 |  Germany |
39.6 million | 38.9 million | 1.8 |
3.8
|
| 10 |  United Kingdom |
39.4 million | 38.7 million | 1.9 |
2.2
|
AfricaEdit
In 2019, there were 69.9 million international tourist arrivals to Africa (excluding Egypt), an increase of 2.4% from 2018.[1] In 2019, the top ten African destinations were:
| Rank | Destination | International tourist arrivals (2019)[1] |
International tourist arrivals (2018)[1] |
Change (2018 to 2019) (%) |
Change (2017 to 2018) (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Egypt |
13.0 million | 11.3 million | 14.8 |
36.8
| |
| 2 |  Morocco |
12.9 million | 12.3 million | 5.2 |
8.3
| |
| 3 |  South Africa |
10.2 million | 10.5 million | 2.3 |
1.8
| |
| 4 |  Tunisia |
9.4 million | 8.3 million | 13.6 |
17.7
| |
| 5 |  Algeria |
2.4 million | 2.7 million | 10.8 |
8.4
| |
| 6 |  Zimbabwe |
2.3 million | 2.6 million | 10.8 |
5.9
| |
| 7 |  Mozambique |
2.0 million | 2.7 million | 26.4 |
89.6
| |
| 8 |  Ivory Coast |
- | 2.0 million | - | 9.2
| |
| 9 |  Kenya |
- | 1.9 million | - | 15.4
| |
| 10 |  Botswana |
- | 1.7 million | - | 2.0
| |
| Note: Egypt is classified under "Middle East" in the UNWTO.[2] | ||||||
AmericasEdit
In 2019, there were 219.1 million international tourist arrivals to the Americas, an increase of 1.5%.[1] In 2019, the top ten destinations were:
| Rank | Destination | International tourist arrivals (2019)[1] |
International tourist arrivals (2018)[1] |
Change (2018 to 2019) (%) |
Change (2017 to 2018) (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States |
79.3 million | 79.7 million | 0.6 |
3.3
|
| 2 | Mexico |
45.0 million | 41.3 million | 9.0 |
5.1
|
| 3 |  Canada |
22.1 million | 21.1 million | 4.8 |
1.2
|
| 4 |  Argentina |
7.4 million | 6.9 million | 6.6 |
3.4
|
| 5 |  Dominican Republic |
6.4 million | 6.6 million | 1.9 |
6.2
|
| 6 |  Brazil |
6.4 million | 6.6 million | 4.1 |
0.5
|
| 7 |  Chile |
4.5 million | 5.7 million | 21.1 |
11.3
|
| 8 |  Peru |
4.4 million | 4.4 million | 1.1 |
9.6
|
| 9 |  Cuba |
4.3 million | 4.7 million | 9.0 |
2.0
|
| 10 |  Colombia |
4.2 million | 4.0 million | 3.4 |
10.7
|
Asia-PacificEdit
In 2019, there were 360.7 million international tourist arrivals to Asia-Pacific, an increase of 4.1% over 2018.[1] In 2019, the top ten destinations were:
| Rank | Destination | International tourist arrivals (2019)[1] |
International tourist arrivals (2018)[1] |
Change (2018 to 2019) (%) |
Change (2017 to 2018) (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China |
65.7 million | 62.9 million | 4.5 |
3.6
|
| 2 | Thailand |
39.8 million | 38.2 million | 4.3 |
7.3
|
| 3 |  Japan |
32.2 million | 31.2 million | 3.2 |
8.7
|
| 4 |  Malaysia |
26.1 million | 25.8 million | 1.0 |
0.4
|
| 5 |  Hong Kong |
23.8 million | 29.3 million | 18.8 |
4.9
|
| 6 |  Macau |
18.6 million | 18.5 million | 0.8 |
7.2
|
| 7 |  Vietnam |
18.0 million | 15.5 million | 16.2 |
19.9
|
| 8 |  India |
17.9 million | 17.4 million | 2.8 |
12.1
|
| 9 |  South Korea |
17.5 million | 15.3 million | 14.0 |
15.1
|
| 10 |  Indonesia |
15.5 million | 13.4 million | 15.4 |
3.5
|
EuropeEdit
In 2019, there were 744.3 million international tourist arrivals to Europe, an increase of 3.9% over 2017.[1] In 2019, the top ten destinations were:
| Rank | Destination | International tourist arrivals (2019)[1] |
International tourist arrivals (2018)[1] |
Change (2018 to 2019) (%) |
Change (2017 to 2018) (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France |
- | 89.4 million | - | 2.9
|
| 2 | Spain |
83.7 million | 82.8 million | 1.1 |
1.1
|
| 3 | Italy |
64.5 million | 61.6 million | 4.8 |
5.7
|
| 4 | Turkey |
51.2 million | 45.8 million | 11.9 |
21.7
|
| 5 | Germany |
39.6 million | 38.9 million | 1.8 |
3.8
|
| 6 | United Kingdom |
39.4 million | 38.7 million | 1.9 |
2.2
|
| 7 |  Austria |
31.9 million | 30.8 million | 3.5 |
4.6
|
| 8 |  Greece |
31.3 million | 30.1 million | 4.1 |
10.8
|
| 9 |  Portugal |
24.6 million | 22.8 million | 7.9 |
7.5
|
| 10 |  Russia |
24.4 million | 24.6 million | 0.5 |
0.7
|
Middle EastEdit
In 2019, there were 61.4 million international tourist arrivals to the Middle East (excluding Iran and Israel), an increase of 2.1% over 2018. In 2019, the top ten destinations were:
| Rank | Destination | International tourist arrivals (2019)[1] |
International tourist arrivals (2018)[1] |
Change (2018 to 2019) (%) |
Change (2017 to 2018) (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Saudi Arabia |
17.5 million | 15.5 million | 13.0 |
3.7
| |
| 2 |  United Arab Emirates |
16.7 million | 15.9 million | 5.1 |
0.8
| |
| 3 | Egypt |
13.0 million | 11.3 million | 14.8 |
36.8
| |
| 4 |  Iran |
9.1 million | 7.3 million | 24.4 |
49.9
| |
| 5 |  Israel |
4.6 million | 4.1 million | 10.5 |
14.1
| |
| 6 |  Jordan |
4.5 million | 4.2 million | 8.1 |
8.0
| |
| 7 |  Bahrain |
3.8 million | 4.4 million | 11.8 |
0.2
| |
| 8 |  Oman |
2.5 million | 2.3 million | 8.6 |
0.6
| |
| 9 |  Qatar |
2.1 million | 1.8 million | 17.4 |
19.4
| |
| 10 |  Lebanon |
1.9 million | 2.0 million | 1.4 |
5.8
| |
| Note: Iran is classified as part of "South Asia" in the UNWTO.[2] Israel is classified as part of "Southern/Medit.Europe" in the UNWTO.[2] | ||||||
International tourism receiptsEdit
International tourism receipts grew to US$14,878 billion in 2019, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 1.6% from 2018.[1] The World Tourism Organization reports the following destinations as the top ten tourism earners for the year 2019, with the United States by far the top earner.
| Rank | Region | International tourism receipts (US$ billion) |
International tourism receipts (US$ billion) |
Change (local currency) (2018 to 2019) (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States |
214.1 | 214.7 | 0.3%
|
| 2 | Spain |
79.7 | 81.7 | 2.9%
|
| 3 | France |
63.8 | 66.0 | 1.9%
|
| 4 | Thailand |
60.5 | 56.4 | 3.2%
|
| 5 | United Kingdom |
52.7 | 50.0 | 10.1%
|
| 6 | Italy |
49.6 | 49.3 | 6.2%
|
| 7 | Japan |
46.1 | 42.1 | 8.0%
|
| 8 |  Australia |
45.7 | 45.0 | 9.1%
|
| 9 | Germany |
41.6 | 43.0 | 2.2%
|
| 10 | China |
40.1 | 40.4 | 1.6%
|
AfricaEdit
| Rank | Region | International tourism receipts (US$ million) (2019)[1] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt |
13,030 |
| 2 | South Africa |
8,384 |
| 3 | Morocco |
8,179 |
| 4 |  Tanzania |
2,605 |
| 5 | Tunisia |
2,116 |
| 6 |  Mauritius |
1,779 |
| 7 |  Uganda |
1,463 |
| 8 |  Nigeria |
1,449 |
| 9 |  Ghana |
1,425 |
| 10 | Kenya |
1,072* |
| Note: Number for Kenya is for 2018. | ||
AmericasEdit
| Rank | Region | International tourism receipts (US$ million) (2019)[1] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States |
214,134 |
| 2 | Canada |
28,012 |
| 3 | Mexico |
24,573 |
| 4 | Dominican Republic |
7,468 |
| 5 | Brazil |
5,995 |
| 6 | Colombia |
5,652 |
| 7 | Argentina |
5,241 |
| 8 |  Panama |
4,521 |
| 9 |  Bahamas |
4,126 |
| 10 |  Costa Rica |
4,010 |
Asia-PacificEdit
| Rank | Region | International tourism receipts (US$ million) (2019)[1] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thailand |
60,521 |
| 2 | Japan |
46,054 |
| 3 | Australia |
45,709 |
| 4 | Macau |
40,060 |
| 5 | China |
35,832 |
| 6 | India |
30,720 |
| 7 | Hong Kong |
29,043 |
| 8 | South Korea |
21,628 |
| 9 |  Singapore |
20,052 |
| 10 | Malaysia |
19,823 |
EuropeEdit
| Rank | Region | International tourism receipts (US$ million) (2019)[1] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain |
79,714 |
| 2 | France |
63,801 |
| 3 | United Kingdom |
50,437 |
| 4 | Italy |
49,596 |
| 5 | Germany |
41,638 |
| 6 | Turkey |
29,829 |
| 7 | Austria |
22,942 |
| 8 | Portugal |
20,633 |
| 9 | Greece |
20,351 |
| 10 |  Netherlands |
18,487 |
Middle EastEdit
| Rank | Region | International tourism receipts (US$ million) (2019)[1] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Arab Emirates |
21,800 |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia |
16,382 |
| 3 | Egypt |
13,030 |
| 4 | Lebanon |
8,593 |
| 5 | Israel |
7,600 |
| 6 | Jordan |
5,786 |
| 7 | Qatar |
5,442 |
| 8 | Iran |
4,402* |
| 9 | Bahrain |
3,681 |
| 10 |  Iraq |
3,593 |
| Note: Number for Iran is for 2017. | ||
International tourism expendituresEdit
The World Tourism Organization reports the following source countries as the top ten spenders on international tourism for the year 2019, with China by far being the top spender:
| Rank | Country | International tourism expenditure (2019)[1] |
International tourism expenditure (2018)[1] |
Change (local currency) (2017 to 2018) (%) [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China |
$254.6 billion | $277.3 billion | 4.2
|
| 2 | United States |
$152.3 billion | $144.5 billion | 5.4
|
| 3 | Germany |
$93.2 billion | $95.6 billion | 2.9
|
| 4 | United Kingdom |
$71.9 billion | $70.9 billion | 6.0
|
| 5 | France |
$51.7 billion | $48.9 billion | 11.5
|
| 6 | Russia |
$36.2 billion | $34.3 billion | 5.5
|
| 7 | Australia |
$36.0 billion | $37.0 billion | 4.6
|
| 8 | Canada |
$35.8 billion | $34.5 billion | 6.1
|
| 9 | South Korea |
$32.3 billion | $35.1 billion | 8.1
|
| 10 | Italy |
$30.3 billion | $30.1 billion | 6.3
|
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "UNWTO World Tourism Barometer and Statistical Annex, December 2020 | World Tourism Organization". 18. Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - ^ a b c "WTO/ Member States of Middle East". World Tourism Organization. Retrieved 16 January 2015.