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 three times throughout the 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 countries by international tourist arrivals in 2014

2014 World’s Top 10 Tourism Destinations

In 2014, there were 1.133 billion international tourist arrivals worldwide, with a growth of 4.3% as compared to 1.087 billion in 2013.^[1] The top 10 international tourism destinations in 2014 were:^[1][2]

Rank	Country	UNWTO Region [3]	International tourist arrivals (2014)[1]	International tourist arrivals (2013)[1]	Change (2013 to 2014) (%)	Change (2012 to 2013) (%)
1	France	Europe	83.7 million	83.6 million	0.1	2.0
2	United States	North America	74.8 million	70.0 million	6.8	5.0
3	Spain	Europe	65.0 million	60.7 million	7.1	5.6
4	China	Asia	55.6 million	55.05 million	0.1	3.5
5	Italy	Europe	48.6 million	47.7 million	1.8	2.9
6	Turkey	Europe	39.8 million	37.8 million	5.3	5.9
7	Germany	Europe	33.0 million	31.5 million	4.6	3.7
8	United Kingdom	Europe	32.6 million	31.1 million	5.0	6.1
9	Russia	Europe	29.8 million	28.4 million	5.3	10.2
10	Mexico	North America	29.1 million	24.2 million	20.5	3.2

Africa and the Middle East

Africa

In 2013, there were over 55.7 million international tourist arrivals to Africa, an increase of 5.4% over 2012. In 2013, the top ten African destinations were:^[4]

Rank	Country	International tourist arrivals (2014)[1]	International tourist arrivals (2013)[5]	Change (2013 to 2014) (%)	Change (2012 to 2013) (%)
1	Morocco	10.2 million	10.0 million	2.4	7.2
2	South Africa	9.5 million	9.5 million	0.1	3.8
3	Tunisia	6.0 million	6.2 million	3.2	5.3
4	Algeria	—	2.7 million	—	3.7
5	Mozambique	—	1.8 million	—	10.7
6	Zimbabwe	1.8 million	1.8 million	2.6	2.1
7	Kenya	—	1.4 million	—	11.5
8	Uganda	—	1.2 million	—	0.8
9	Namibia	—	1.1 million	—	9.0
10	Senegal	—	1.0 million	—	10.5
Note: Egypt is classified under "Middle East" in UNWTO's scheme.[6]

Middle East

In 2014, there were over 51 million international tourist arrivals to the Middle East, an increase of 5.0% over 2013. In 2014, the top ten destinations were:^[4][7]

Rank	Country	International tourist arrivals (2014)[1]	International tourist arrivals (2013)[5]	Change (2013 to 2014) (%)	Change (2012 to 2013) (%)
1	Saudi Arabia	15.0 million	12 million	12.8	6.3
2	United Arab Emirates	---	9.9 million	—	17.9
3	Egypt	9.6 million	9.1 million	5.0	18.1
4	Iran	6.0 million	4.7 million	27.7	24.4
5	Jordan	3.9 million	3.9 million	1.1	5.2
6	Israel	4.1 million	2.9 million	1.2	2.6
7	Qatar	2.8 million	2.6 million	8.2	11.3
8	Oman	—	1.5 million	—	7.9
9	Lebanon	1.3 million	1.2 million	6.3	6.7
10	Bahrain	—	1.0 million	—	5.4
Note 1: Israel is classified under the "Southern & Mediterranean Europe" category [8] and Note 2: Iran is classified as part of "South Asia" in the UNWTO scheme.[6]

The Americas

In 2014, there were over 181 million international tourist arrivals to the Americas, an increase of 8.0% over 2013. In 2014, the top ten destinations were:^[9]

Rank	Country	International tourist arrivals (2014)[1]	International tourist arrivals (2013)[5]	Change (2013 to 2014) (%)	Change (2012 to 2013) (%)
1	United States	74.7 million	69.9 million	6.8	5.0
2	Mexico	29.1 million	24.1 million	20.5	3.2
3	Canada	16.5 million	16.0 million	2.9	1.7
4	Brazil	6.4 million	5.8 million	9.1	2.4
5	Argentina	5.9 million	5.2 million	13.1	6.1
6	Dominican Republic	5.1 million	4.6 million	9.6	2.8
7	Colombia [10]	4.2 million	2.2 million	12.1	5.1
8	Chile	3.6 million	3.5 million	2.7	0.6
9	Puerto Rico	3.2 million	3.2 million	1.4	4.3
10	Peru	3.2 million	3.2 million	1.6	11.2

Asia and the Pacific

In 2014, there were over around 263.0 million international tourist arrivals to Asia and the Pacific, an increase of 5.0% over 2013. In 2014, the top ten destinations were:^[1]

Rank	Country or District	International tourist arrivals (2014)[1]	International tourist arrivals (2013)[5]	Change (2013 to 2014) (%)	Change (2012 to 2013) (%)
1	People's Republic of China	55.6 million	55.6 million	0.1	3.5
2	Hong Kong	27.8 million	25.6 million	8.2	8.0
3	Malaysia	27.4 million	25.7 million	6.7	2.7
4	Thailand	24.8 million	26.5 million	6.7	18.8
5	Singapore[11]	15.0 million	15.6 million	3.0	7.4
6	Macau	14.6 million	14.3 million	2.1	5.1
7	South Korea	14.2 million	12.2 million	16.6	9.3
8	Japan	13.4 million	10.4 million	29.4	24.0
9	Taiwan	10.4 million	9.0 million	23.6	9.6
10	India	7.7 million	6.8 million	13.1

Europe

In 2014, there were over 582 million international tourist arrivals to Europe, an increase of 3.0% over 2013. In 2014, the top ten destinations were:^[4]

Rank	Country	International tourist arrivals (2014)[1]	International tourist arrivals (2013)[5]	Change (2013 to 2014) (%)	Change (2012 to 2013) (%)
1	France	83.7 million	83.6 million	0.1	2.0
2	Spain	65.0 million	60.7 million	7.1	5.6
3	Italy	48.6 million	47.7 million	1.8	2.9
4	Turkey	39.8 million	37.8 million	5.3	5.9
5	Germany	33.0 million	31.5 million	4.6	3.7
6	United Kingdom	32.6 million	31.1 million	5.0	6.1
7	Russia	29.8 million	28.4 million	5.3	10.2
8	Austria	25.2 million	24.8 million	1.9	2.7
9	Greece	22.0 million	17.9 million	23.0	15.5
10	Poland	16.0 million	15.8 million	1.3	6.5

International tourism receipts in 2014

International tourism receipts grew to US$1,245 billion in 2014, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 3.7% from 2013.^[12] The World Tourism Organization reports the following countries as the top ten tourism earners for the year 2014, with the United States by far the top earner.

Rank	Country	UNWTO Region[3]	International tourism receipts (2014)[1]	International tourism receipts (2013)[13]	Change (2013 to 2014) (%)	Change (2012 to 2013) (%)
1	United States	North America	$177.2 billion	$172.9 billion	2.5	7.0
2	Spain	Europe	$65.2 billion	$62.6 billion	4.2	7.6
3	China	Asia	$56.9 billion	$51.7 billion	10.2	3.3
4	France	Europe	$55.4 billion	$56.7 billion	2.3	5.6
5	Macau	Asia	$50.8 billion	$51.8 billion	1.9	18.1
6	Italy	Europe	$45.5 billion	$43.9 billion	3.7	6.6
7	United Kingdom	Europe	$45.3 billion	$41.0 billion	10.3	12.1
8	Germany	Europe	$43.3 billion	$41.3 billion	5.0	8.2
9	Thailand	Asia	$38.4 billion	$41.8 billion	8.0	23.4
10	Hong Kong	Asia	$38.4 billion	$38.9 billion	1.4	17.7

International tourism expenditure in 2014

The World Tourism Organization reports the following countries as the top ten biggest spenders on international tourism for the year 2014.^[1]

Rank	Country	UNWTO Region[3]	International tourism expenditure (2014)[1]	International tourism expenditure (2013)[5]	Market Share (%)	Change (2013 to 2014) (%)
1	China	Asia	$164.9 billion	$128.6 billion	13.2	27.1
2	United States	North America	$110.8 billion	$104.1 billion	8.9	6.4
3	Germany	Europe	$92.2 billion	$91.4 billion	7.4	0.9
4	United Kingdom	Europe	$57.6 billion	$52.7 billion	4.6	3.8
5	Russia	Europe	$50.4 billion	$53.5 billion	4.0	13.7
6	France	Europe	$47.8 billion	$42.9 billion	3.8	11.3
7	Canada	North America	$33.8 billion	$35.2 billion	2.7	3.3
8	Italy	Europe	$28.8 billion	$27.0 billion	2.3	6.9
9	Australia	Oceania	$26.3 billion	$28.6 billion	2.1	1.7
10	Brazil	South America	$25.6 billion	$25.0 billion	2.1	11.7

Top International Tourist Destination Cities

Apart from the UN, the Euromonitor International has conducted a research in world tourism ranking by cities in 2014.^[14]

Rank	City	Country	Region	International tourist (Millions) (2012)
1	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Asia	27.7
2	London	United Kingdom	Europe	17.4
3	Singapore	Singapore	Asia	17.1
4	Bangkok	Thailand	Asia	16.2
5	Paris	France	Europe	15.0
6	Macao	Macau	Asia	15.0
7	Shenzhen	China	Asia	13.1
8	New York City	United States	North America	12.2
9	Istanbul	Turkey	Europe/Asia	11.9
10	Bali	Indonesia	Asia	11.6

See also

• Tourism
• World Travel Monitor

References

1. "UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2015 Edition" (Press release). UNWTO. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
2. "Interim Update" (PDF). UNWTO World Tourism Barometer (UNWTO). April 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
3. See Retrieved 14 November 2012.
4. "2012 Tourism Highlights" (PDF). UNWTO. July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
5. "2013 Tourism Highlights" (PDF). World Tourism Organization. July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
6. "WTO/ Member States of South Asia". World Tourism Organization. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
7. "Recovery Confirmed, but Growth Remains Uneven" (PDF). UNWTO World Tourism Barometer (UNWTO) 8 (2). June 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
8. "WTO/ Member States of Europe". World Tourism Organization. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
9. "Interim Update" (PDF). UNWTO World Tourism Barometer (UNWTO). July 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
10. "Récord histórico en ingreso de extranjeros a Colombia por vía aérea - Viajar - El Tiempo". EL TIEMPO (in Spanish). Retrieved 2016-01-20.
11. "Tourism Statistics Publications" (PDF). Singapore Tourism Board. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
12. "International tourism receipts surpass US$ 1 trillion in 2011" (Press release). UNWTO. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
13. "World's top destinations by international tourism receipts" (PDF). World Tourism Barometer. UNWTO. July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
14. Top 100 City Destinations Ranking

External links

• Official website
• List of countries by international inbound tourists
• World Statistics