Global Tourism Statistics & Trends

Page last updated: 8 July 2024

An overview of the most current statistics and trends in global tourism, based on the latest data available.

Overview

Global Tourism Key Trends in 2023

International tourism reached 88% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023, with around 1.29 billion international arrivals (up 34% from 2022).

Revenue from international tourism reached $1.4 trillion in 2023, nearing 93% of the $1.5 trillion recorded in 2019.

Forecasts for 2024 suggest international tourism will exceed pre-pandemic figures by approximately 2%.

The Middle East led in the tourism recovery, being the only region to surpass 2019 pre-pandemic arrival numbers by 22%.

France has remained the world’s top destination for over three decades, drawing 100 million international visitors in 2023.

What are the top 10 most visited countries in the world?

France, Spain, and the United States are the leading destinations for international tourism.

For more than 30 years, France has held the top spot as the most visited country globally, welcoming more than 100 million international tourists in 2023 and accounting for 8% of the global tourism market.

Spain followed closely with 85.17 million arrivals in 2023, while the United States ranked third, attracting 66.48 million tourists.

China, ranked fourth in 2019, has dropped out of the top 10 tourist destinations since the onset of the pandemic.

France, Spain, Turkey, Greece, and the UAE saw increases in tourist arrivals in 2023 compared to 2019, while the USA, Italy, Mexico, the UK, and Germany have experienced declines.

Read more about Global Tourism Ranking – Most Visited Countries.

World Tourism Rankings by Country in Terms of Spending

In 2023, the United States led with 66.48 million tourist arrivals, generating $175.9 billion in receipts. This made up 12% of global tourism receipts, with each tourist spending approximately $2,645 on average during their visit.

While France and Spain led in terms of the number of arrivals, the United States excels in total receipts and spending per arrival.

Top 10 City Destinations for 2023

According to Euromonitor’s Top 100 City Destinations Index 2023, the top 10 tourist destinations are:

Paris, France
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Madrid, Spain
Tokyo, Japan
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Berlin, Germany
Rome, Italy
New York, United States of America
Barcelona, Spain
London, United Kingdom

In contrast, the top 10 city destinations in terms of international arrivals for 2023 include:

Istanbul – 20.2 million arrivals
London – 18.8 million arrivals
Dubai – 16.8 million arrivals
Antalya – 16.5 million arrivals
Paris – 15.5 million arrivals
Hong Kong – 14.7 million arrivals
Bangkok – 12.2 million arrivals
New York – 11.7 million arrivals
Cancún – 10.8 million arrivals
Месса – 10.8 million arrivals

World Tourism Rankings by Country in terms of Total Arrivals (2023)

Rank	Country	Region	Arrivals(million)	Receipts(USD billion)	Receipts per arrival(USD)
1	France	Europe	100	68.6	686
2	Spain	Europe	85	92	1,080
3	United States	Americas	66	175.9	2,645
4	Italy	Europe	57.25	55.9	976
5	Turkey	Middle East	55.16	49.5	897
6	Mexico	Americas	42.15	30.8	731
7	United Kingdom	Europe	37	73.9	1,986
8	Germany	Europe	35	37.4	1,074
9	Greece	Europe	32.74	22.3	680
10	Austria	Europe	30.91	25	808
11	Thailand	Asia Pacific	28.15	29.7	1,055
12	Saudi Arabia	Middle East	27.42	36	1,312
13	Japan	Asia Pacific	25.07	38.6	1,539
14	Netherlands	Europe	20.3	20.2	993
15	Malaysia	Asia Pacific	20.14	14.8	735
16	Poland	Europe	18.99	15	791
17	Canada	Americas	18.34	39.2	2,138
18	Hong Kong (China)	Asia Pacific	17.16	21.1	1,228
19	Morocco	Africa	14.52	10.3	711
20	Macao (China)	Asia Pacific	14.23	32.6	2,288

Please note that these rankings do not always coincide with the official UNWTO rankings as it only catalogues countries based on existing data for the selected year. As data are updated regularly throughout the year, the rankings will change as well.

Note: If no data is shown, no information is available for the selected year or country. Expenditure and departure data are only available on a country level.

Travel Patterns: A closer look at the top most travelled countries every year

Country	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023*
France	90.91	41.68	48.4	93.2	100
Spain	83.51	18.93	31.18	71.66	85.17
United States	79.44	19.21	22.28	50.87	66.48
Italy	64.51	25.19	26.89	49.81	57.25
Turkey	51.19	15.89	29.93	50.45	55.16
Mexico	45.02	24.82	31.86	38.33	42.15
United Kingdom	39.42	10.71	6.29	30.74	37.22
Germany	39.56	12.45	11.69	28.46	34.8
Greece	31.35	7.37	14.71	27.84	32.74
Austria	31.88	15.09	12.73	26.22	30.91
UAE	21.56	7.17	11.48	22.65	28.15
China	65.73	7.97	5.66	–	–

Travel Resources by Country

Best-Performing Region in Terms of Recovery

International tourism achieved 88% of its pre-pandemic figures in 2023, representing a recovery from the 28% observed in 2020, 31% in 2021, and 66% in 2022.

The Middle East led the recovery with international tourist arrivals soaring to 122% of what they were before the pandemic.

Close behind, Africa reached 96%, Europe achieved 94%, and America showed a solid recovery at 90%.

Asia and the Pacific also showed signs of recovery, reaching 65% of their pre-pandemic tourism levels.

Recovery of International Tourist Arrivals by Region

(%) Result of 2023 compared to pre-pandemic years.

Europe Tourism Ranking by Country

Albania: +53%
Andorra: +31%
Liechtenstein: +16%
Iceland: +15%
Serbia: +15%
Portugal: +11%
Montenegro: +10%
Denmark: +8%
Malta: +8%
Turkey: +7%

Americas Tourism Ranking by Country

Turks & Caicos: +127%
El Salvador: +40%
Colombia: +33%
Curaçao: +24%
Dominican Republic: +24%
US Virgin Islands: +23%
Guatemala: +15%
Honduras: +12%
Aruba: +10%
Barbados: +7%

Asia Pacific Tourism Ranking by Country

Maldives: +10%
French Polynesia: +10%
Fiji: +3%
New Caledonia: -4%
Samoa: -6%
Nepal: -15%
India: -16%
Cook Islands: -18%
Sri Lanka: -22%
Japan: -24%

Africa and Middle East Tourism Ranking by Country

Qatar: 90%
Saudi Arabia: 56%
Ethiopia: 30%
Tanzania: 20%
Oman: 14%
Morocco: 11%
Tunisia: 0%
Kenya: -4%
Mauritius: -7%
Syria: -16%

What are the prospects for tourism in 2024?

The 2024 outlook for the global tourism industry is broadly positive with international tourist numbers expected to reach 1.5 billion, a 17.23% rise from 2023 and 2% increase from 2019.

Travel & Tourism set to break all records in 2024 with the contribution of tourism to the global GDP is expected to reach $11.1 trillion.

Read more about Global Tourism – 2024 Forecast.

When can we expect international tourism to return to 2019 pre-pandemic levels?

International tourism is expected to fully recover in 2024.

Projections from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) suggest that the recovery, with a slight growth of 2% above 2019 levels, will be largely influenced by the pace of recovery in Asia as well as ongoing global economic and geopolitical factors.

Global Tourism Statistics & Trends – 2023 and 2024