Page last updated: 20 January 2025
Here’s an overview of the most current statistics and trends in global tourism, based on the latest data available.
Global Tourism Key Trends and Forecast in 2024 to 2025
Visitor Arrivals
- January-September 2024: Approximately 1.1 billion international tourist arrivals were recorded globally, reaching 98% of 2019 levels, indicating a near-complete recovery.
- By 2025, international arrivals are forecasted to surpass 2 billion, marking a full recovery and growth beyond pre-pandemic numbers.
Economic Impact
- The travel and tourism sector’s contribution to global GDP is expected to exceed $11.1 trillion in 2024, reflecting a 12.1% rise from 2023 and a 7.5% growth compared to 2019 levels.
Regional Insights
- Middle East: International tourist arrivals climbed 29% above 2019 levels in the first nine months of 2024, leading the global recovery.
- Africa: Welcomed 6% more tourists than in the same period of 2019, showing a strong recovery.
- Europe: Arrivals exceeded pre-pandemic numbers by 1%, supported by robust intra-regional demand and travel from the United States.
- Americas: Recorded 97% of 2019 levels, indicating a steady rebound.
- Asia and the Pacific: Reached 85% of 2019 levels, showing an improvement as destinations reopened and travel restrictions eased.
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.
- The 2024 record of international tourism is anticipated to 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 |
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 | – | – |
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.
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 and in 2025?
- 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 – 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.
Travel Statistics Resources
- Australia Statistics
- Austria Statistics
- Canada Statistics
- China Statistics
- Denmark Statistics
- France Statistics
- Germany Statistics
- Greece Statistics
- Hong Kong Statistics
- Iceland Statistics