World Tourism rankings

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 arrivals

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

Africa

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	89.6	26.4
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]

Americas

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-Pacific

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

Europe

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 East

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 receipts

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) (2019)[1]	International tourism receipts (US$ billion) (2018)[1]	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%