Tourist Numbers

More and more tourists, even if...

Tourism remains one of the world's leading activities, directly or indirectly employing one in eleven people. According to the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization), it has become the second-largest source of income for 46 of the 49 poorest countries in the world.

In 2018, and since 2012, international tourism once again far exceeded one billion arrivals, with 1.401 billion (+5% year-on-year), and travelers spent over $1,700 billion outside their home countries.

Despite "crises", current events, and occasional dips in previous years, the UNWTO's forecast of 4% annual growth until 2025 seems to be holding. The industry appears to have adapted its output to the new global political and economic situation, and the decline in Western tourists to many destinations is now offset by visitors from emerging countries (China, India, Brazil, etc.).

In this context, among the new players in 21st-century tourism, China takes the lead. If the Chinese tourism industry continues its current growth, the country will become the world's top tourist destination within a few years. Moreover, since 2006, the Chinese have been the most numerous Asians to travel abroad and may soon become the world's most frequent travelers overall.

In short, the tourism sector has undergone a complete transformation in recent years. Despite challenges and the current context, it remains a dynamic industry, simply replacing part of its traditional European clientele with visitors from countries that, not so long ago, were still considered developing.

The most visited countries... and the rest

Officially, there were 1.401 billion international travelers in 2018 (+5% compared to 2017). But how are these visitors distributed across destinations? While the figures exist, they sometimes vary slightly for the same country depending on the source.

Overall, three main sources are available: the UNWTO, national tourist offices, and, occasionally, governments.

For now, almost anything is counted as "foreign visitors." This includes: a foreign passenger in simple transit at an airport, who is generally counted as a visitor to the country. The same goes for a tourist quickly passing through a country to reach another. Also included are cross-border workers, emigrants returning "home" for the holidays, or visitors with non-tourism purposes, such as in Saudi Arabia (pilgrimage). Not to mention the cases of Tibet, Hong Kong, or Macao, which officially belong to China but where Chinese visitors are counted as "foreign visitors" by the authorities (95% of entries declared in Tibet).

So, it’s not always easy to make sense of the data, especially since few countries like to admit a drop in visitor numbers from one year to the next...

In short, what we offer here is primarily a rough idea based on the UNWTO’s declared figures and those of tourist offices. It’s also worth noting that in many destinations, tourist flows may be limited to specific periods and/or areas of the country.

Visitor numbers by geographic region

In 2018, Europe remained the most visited continent, with 710 million visitors (+5% year-on-year). Next came Asia, which attracted 330 million tourists (+7%), the Americas with 216 million (142 million in North America, +2%), Africa with 67 million (+7%), the Middle East with 60 million (+5%), and the Pacific, which received 17 million visitors (+3%).

Most visited countries (2018)

• Worldwide: 1) France; 2) Spain; 3) United States; 4) China; 5) Italy; 6) Turkey; 7) Mexico; 8) Germany; 9) Thailand; 10) United Kingdom

• Europe: France (89.4 million) ahead of Spain.

• Africa: Morocco (12.289 million) ahead of Egypt.

• Middle East: United Arab Emirates (15.92 million) ahead of Saudi Arabia.

• Asia: China (62.9 million) ahead of Thailand.

• Pacific: Australia (9.246 million) ahead of Hawaii.

• North America: United States (79.618 million) ahead of Mexico.

• Central America: Costa Rica (3.017 million) ahead of Guatemala.

• Caribbean: Dominican Republic (6.569 million) ahead of Cuba.

• South America: Argentina (6.942 million) ahead of Brazil.

For reference, if we consider only French visitors, the most visited countries are the United States for the Americas, Morocco for Africa, Thailand for Asia, and Spain for Europe.

Tourist numbers by country

The annual number of foreign tourists (and French visitors) for each destination in the world, as well as their main countries of origin.

• Tourist Visitation in Africa

• Tourist Visitation: Americas/Pacific

• Tourist Visitation in Asia/Middle East

• Tourist Traffic in Europe