The 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 destinations by international tourist arrivals Edit

In 2016, there were 1.235 billion international tourist arrivals worldwide, with a growth of 4% as compared to 1.186 billion in 2015. The top 10 international tourism destinations in 2016 were:[1]

Rank Destination International
tourist
arrivals
(2016)[1] International
tourist
arrivals
(2015)[1] Change
(2015 to

(%) Change
(2014 to

(%)
1 France 82.6 million 84.5 million Decrease 2.2 Increase 0.9
2 United States 75.6 million 77.5 million Decrease 2.4 Increase 3.3
3 Spain 75.6 million 68.5 million Increase 10.3 Increase 5.5
4 China 59.3 million 56.9 million Increase 4.2 Increase 2.3
5 Italy 52.4 million 50.7 million Increase 3.2 Increase 4.4
6 United Kingdom 35.8 million 34.4 million Increase 4.0 Increase 5.6
7 Germany 35.6 million 35.0 million Increase 1.7 Increase 6.0
8 Mexico 35.0 million 32.1 million Increase 8.9 Increase 9.4
9 Thailand 32.6 million 29.9 million Increase 8.9 Increase 20.6
10 Turkey 25.4 million[2] 39.5 million – Decrease 0.8

Africa Edit
In 2015, there were over 53 million international tourist arrivals to Africa, a decrease of 3% from 2014. In 2015, the top ten African destinations were:

Rank Destination International
tourist
arrivals
(2015)[1] International
tourist
arrivals
(2014)[1] Change
(2014 to

(%) Change
(2013 to

(%)
1 Morocco 10.2 million 10.3 million Decrease 1.0 Increase 2.4
2 Egypt 9.1 million 9.6 million Decrease 5.1 Increase 5.0
3 South Africa 8.9 million 9.5 million Decrease 6.8 Increase 0.1
4 Tunisia 5.4 million 7.2 million Decrease 25.2 Decrease 2.6
5 Zimbabwe 2.1 million 1.9 million Increase 9.4 Increase 2.6
6 Algeria 1.7 million 2.3 million Decrease 25.7 Decrease 15.8
7 Mozambique 1.6 million 1.7 million Decrease 6.6 Decrease 11.9
8 Botswana 1.5 million 2.0 million Decrease 22.3 Increase 27.3
9 Ivory Coast 1.4 million 0.5 million Increase 205.9 Increase 23.9
10 Namibia 1.4 million 1.3 million Increase 5.1 Increase 12.2
Note: Egypt is classified under "Middle East" in the UNWTO.[3]
Americas Edit
In 2015, there were over 199 million international tourist arrivals to the Americas. In 2015, the top ten destinations were:[1]

Rank Destination International
tourist
arrivals
(2015)[1] International
tourist
arrivals
(2014)[1] Change
(2014 to

(%) Change
(2013 to

(%)
1 United States 77.5 million 75.0 million Increase 3.3 Increase 7.2
2 Mexico 32.1 million 29.3 million Increase 9.4 Increase 21.5
3 Canada 18.0 million 16.5 million Increase 8.7 Increase 3.0
4 Brazil 6.3 million 6.4 million Decrease 1.9 Increase 10.6
5 Argentina 5.7 million 5.9 million Decrease 3.3 Increase 13.1
6 Dominican Republic 5.6 million 5.1 million Increase 8.9 Increase 9.6
7 Chile 4.5 million 3.7 million Increase 21.9 Increase 2.7
8 Puerto Rico 3.5 million 3.2 million Increase 9.1 Increase 2.3
9 Cuba 3.5 million 3.0 million Increase 17.5 Increase 5.0
10 Peru 3.5 million 3.2 million Increase 7.5 Increase 1.6
Asia Edit
In 2016, there were over 293 million international tourist arrivals to Asia-Pacific, an increase of 9.0% over 2015. In 2016, the top ten destinations were:[1]

Rank Destination International
tourist
arrivals
(2016)[1] International
tourist
arrivals
(2015)[1] Change
(2015 to

(%) Change
(2014 to

(%)
1 China 59.3 million 56.9 million Increase 4.2 Increase 2.3
2 Thailand 32.6 million 29.9 million Increase 8.9 Increase 20.6
3 Malaysia 26.8 million 25.7 million Increase 4.0 Decrease 6.3
4 Hong Kong 26.6 million 26.7 million Decrease 0.5 Decrease 3.9
5 Japan 24.0 million 19.7 million Increase 21.8 Increase 47.1
6 South Korea 17.2 million 13.2 million Increase 30.3 Decrease 6.8
7 Macau 15.7 million 14.3 million Increase 9.8 Decrease 1.8
8 India 14.6 million 13.3 million Increase 9.7 Increase 1.4
9 Singapore 12.9 million 12.1 million Increase 7.1 Increase 1.6
10 Indonesia – (12.0 mill.[4]) 10.0 million – Increase 5.6
Note: Asia is grouped together with Oceania as part of "Asia-Pacific" region in the UNWTO.[5]
Europe Edit
In 2016, there were over 616 million international tourist arrivals to Europe, an increase of 1.0% over 2015. In 2016, the top ten destinations were:[1]

Rank Destination International
tourist
arrivals
(2016)[1] International
tourist
arrivals
(2015)[1] Change
(2015 to

(%) Change
(2014 to

(%)
1 France 82.6 million 84.5 million Decrease 2.2 Increase 0.9
2 Spain 75.6 million 68.5 million Increase 10.3 Increase 5.5
3 Italy 52.4 million 50.7 million Increase 3.2 Increase 4.4
4 United Kingdom 35.8 million 34.4 million Increase 4.0 Increase 5.6
5 Germany 35.6 million 35.0 million Increase 1.7 Increase 6.0
6 Austria 28.1 million 26.7 million Increase 5.2 Increase 5.7
7 Turkey 25.4 million[2] 39.5 million – Decrease 0.8
8 Greece 24.8 million 23.6 million Increase 5.1 Increase 7.1
9 Russia 24.6 million 26.9 million Decrease 8.6 Increase 5.6
10 Poland 17.5 million 16.7 million Increase 4.4 Increase 4.6
Middle East Edit
In 2015, there were over 53 million international tourist arrivals to the Middle East, an increase of 2.0% over 2014. In 2015, the top ten destinations were:

Rank Destination International
tourist
arrivals
(2015)[1] International
tourist
arrivals
(2014)[1] Change
(2014 to

(%) Change
(2013 to

(%)
1 Saudi Arabia 18.0 million 18.3 million Decrease 1.5 Increase 15.8
2 United Arab Emirates 14.2 million 13.2 million Increase 7.6 Increase 32.1
3 Egypt 9.1 million 9.6 million Decrease 5.1 Increase 5.0
4 Iran 5.2 million 5.0 million Increase 5.4 Increase 4.2
5 Jordan 3.8 million 4.0 million Decrease 5.7 Increase 1.1
6 Qatar 2.9 million 2.8 million Increase 3.7 Increase 8.2
7 Israel 2.8 million 2.9 million Decrease 4.4 Decrease 1.2
8 Oman 1.9 million 1.6 million Increase 17.8 Increase 15.7
9 Lebanon 1.5 million 1.4 million Increase 12.1 Increase 6.3
10 Bahrain 1.2 million 0,8 million Increase 43.2 Decrease 21.6
Note: Iran is classified as part of "South Asia" in the UNWTO.[3]
Israel is classified as part of "Southern/Medit.Europe" in the UNWTO.[3]

Oceania Edit
In 2016, there were over 15 million international tourist arrivals to Oceania, an increase of 8.6% over 2015. In 2016, the top ten destinations were:[1]

Rank Destination International
tourist
arrivals
(2016)[1] International
tourist
arrivals
(2015)[1] Change
(2015 to

(%) Change
(2014 to

(%)
1 Australia 8.6 million 7.4 million Increase 8.1 Increase 11.0
2 New Zealand 3.3 million 3.0 million Increase 10.9 Increase 9.6
3 Guam 1.5 million 1.4 million Increase 9.0 Increase 4.9
4 Fiji 792 thousand 755 thousand Increase 5.0 Increase 9.0
5 Northern Mariana Islands 531 thousand 479 thousand Increase 10.9 Increase 4.1
6 French Polynesia 192 thousand 184 thousand Increase 4.7 Increase 1.8
7 Palau 138 thousand 162 thousand Decrease 14.7 Increase 15.5
8 Cook Islands 146 thousand 125 thousand Increase 9.7 Increase 1.4
9 New Caledonia 105 thousand 114 thousand Decrease 7.6 Increase 6.3
10 Vanuatu 95 thousand 90 thousand Increase 5.7 Decrease 17.3
Note: Oceania is grouped together with Asia as part of "Asia-Pacific" region in the UNWTO