We have looked at figures for the host regions, so now let us look at individual host countries.
Without scrolling down, which countries do you think will fall into the top ten destinations of the world?
Now we will find out if any of your own top ten destinations were in the UNWTO statistics! These figures were collected by looking at international tourist arrivals and taken from their 2019 highlights report which details the 2018 results.
Do the regional rankings match the individual countries?
Top Ten Tourist Destinations (Host Countries) of the World (2017/18)
| Country | 2017 Arrivals (in millions) | 2018 Arrivals (in millions) | % change 2017/2018 | Top 10 in order (1 = most visited) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 60.7 | 62.9 | 4 | 4 |
| France | 86.9 | 89.4 | 3 | 1 |
| Italy | 37.5 | 38.9 | 4 | 8 |
| Mexico | 58.3 | 62.1 | 6 | 5 |
| Spain | 81.9 | 82.8 | 1 | 2 |
| Thailand | 35.4 | 38.3 | 8 | 9 |
| Turkey | 37.6 | 45.8 | 18 | 6 |
| United Kingdom | 37.7 | 36.3 | -4 | 10 |
| United States | 76.9 | 79.6 | 3 | 3 |
It probably won’t surprise you to find that the highest earners from tourism are generally those with some of the highest international tourist arrivals. It makes sense- check out the infographic below.
Top Ten Destinations Receive 40% of Worldwide Arrivals
Top Ten Tourism Earners Account for almost 50% of Receipts
Now look at the table below which gives the details those top ten earners shown in the infographic. These are the Host Destination Countries which earned the most from tourism. We measure this by looking at the International Tourism Receipts.
| Country | 2017 (International Tourism Receipts in USD Billions) | 2018 (International Tourism Receipts in USD Billions) | Top 10 in Order (1=most earned) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 41.7 | 45.0 | 7 |
| China | 38.5 | 40.3 | 10 |
| France | 60.7 | 67.4 | 3 |
| Germany | 39.8 | 42.9 | 8 |
| Italy | 44.2 | 49.3 | 6 |
| Japan | 33.3 | 36.7 | 9 |
| Spain | 68.1 | 73.8 | 2 |
| Thailand | 56.9 | 63.0 | 4 |
| United Kingdom | 49.0 | 51.9 | 5 |
| United States | 210.7 | 214.5 | 1 |
More Country Fun Facts
- Every year, approximately one third of Bangladesh finds itself under water from monsoons.
- Libya is the only country with a single-coloured flag.
- Nepal’s flag is the only one in the world that is not square or rectangular.
- More than half of all doctors in Finland are female.
- The total area of Australia’s coral reefs is greater than the total area of some 130 individual countries.
- Iceland has far more tractors per 1000 hectares of cropland than any other nation - more than twice that of the next highest country, Slovenia.
- Kids in Mali spend only two years in school. More than half of them start working between the ages of 10 and 14.
- The price of gasoline in Turkmenistan is only $US 0.43 per litre. This is cheaper than in any of the OPEC (Oil Producing) countries.