World tourism statistics and rankings

Total volume of cross-border tourist travel

International tourist arrivals reached 1.035 billion in 2012, up from over 983 million in 2011, and 940 million in 2010.^[4][5][14] In 2011 and 2012, international travel demandcontinued to recover from the losses resulting from the late-2000s recession, where tourism suffered a strong slowdown from the second half of 2008 through the end of 2009. After a 5% increase in the first half of 2008, growth in international tourist arrivals moved into negative territory in the second half of 2008, and ended up only 2% for the year, compared to a 7% increase in 2007.^[2] The negative trend intensified during 2009, exacerbated in some countries due to the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, resulting in a worldwide decline of 4.2% in 2009 to 880 million international tourists arrivals, and a 5.7% decline in international tourism receipts.^[3]

World’s Top 10 Tourism Destinations

Main article: World Tourism rankings

The World Tourism Organization reports the following ten countries as the most visited in terms of the number of international travellers in 2013.

Rank	Country	UNWTO Region[20]	International tourist arrivals (2013)[21]	International tourist arrivals (2012)[21]	Change (2012 to 2013) (%)	Change (2011 to 2012) (%)
1	France	Europe	—	83.0 million	—	1.8
2	United States	North America	69.8 million	66.7 million	4.7	6.3
3	Spain	Europe	60.7 million	57.5 million	5.6	2.3
4	China	Asia	55.7 million	57.7 million	3.5	0.3
5	Italy	Europe	47.7 million	46.4 million	2.9	0.5
6	Turkey	Europe	37.8 million	35.7 million	5.9	3.0
7	Germany	Europe	31.5 million	30.4 million	3.7	7.3
8	United Kingdom	Europe	31.2 million	29.3 million	6.4	0.1
9	Russia	Europe	28.4 million	25.7 million	10.2	13.5
10	Thailand	Asia	26.5 million	22.4 million	18.8	16.2

International tourism receipts

International tourism receipts grew to US$1.159 trillion (€873 billion) in 2011, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 5.3% from 2012.^[5] The World Tourism Organizationreports the following countries as the top ten tourism earners for the year 2013, with the United States by far the top earner.

Rank	Country	UNWTO Region[20]	International tourism receipts (2013)[21]	International tourism receipts (2012)[21]	Change (2012 to 2013) (%)	Change (2011 to 2012) (%)
1	United States	North America	$139.6 billion	$126.2 billion	10.6	9.2
2	Spain	Europe	$60.4 billion	$56.3 billion	7.4	6.3
3	France	Europe	$56.1 billion	$53.6 billion	4.8	2.2
4	China	Asia	$51.7 billion	$50.0 billion	3.3	3.2
—	Macau, China	Asia	$51.6 billion	$43.7 billion	18.1	13.7
5	Italy	Europe	$43.9 billion	$41.2 billion	6.6	4.2
6	Thailand	Asia	$42.1 billion	$33.8 billion	24.4	24.4
7	Germany	Europe	$41.2 billion	$38.1 billion	8.1	1.9
8	United Kingdom	Europe	$40.6 billion	$36.2 billion	12.1	3.3
—	Hong Kong, China	Asia	$38.9 billion	$33.1 billion	17.7	16.2
9	Australia	Oceania	$30.9 billion	$31.7 billion	2.8	4.5
10	Turkey	Europe	$27.9 billion	$25.3 billion	6.8	2.4

International tourism expenditur

The World Tourism Organization reports the following countries as the top ten biggest spenders on international tourism for the year 2013.

Rank	Country	UNWTO Region[20]	International tourism expenditure (2013)[21]	International tourism expenditure (2012)[21]	Market Share (%)	Change (2012 to 2013) (%)
1	China	Asia	$128.6 billion	$102.0 billion	11.1	23.8
2	United States	North America	$86.2 billion	$83.5 billion	7.4	3.3
3	Germany	Europe	$85.9 billion	$81.3 billion	7.4	2.3
4	Russia	Europe	$53.5 billion	$42.8 billion	4.6	28.9
5	United Kingdom	Europe	$52.6 billion	$51.3 billion	4.5	3.5
6	France	Europe	$42.4 billion	$39.1 billion	3.7	4.9
7	Canada	North America	$35.2 billion	$35.0 billion	3.0	3.2
8	Australia	Oceania	$28.4 billion	$28.0 billion	2.4	8.8
9	Italy	Europe	$27.0 billion	$26.4 billion	2.3	1.0
10	Brazil	South America	$25.1 billion	$22.2 billion	2.2	12.9

MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index

Based on air traffic, the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index reports the following cities as the top ten most popular destinations of tourism worldwide in 2013.^[22]

Rank	Country	UNWTO Region[20]	International tourist arrivals[22]
1	Bangkok	Asia	15.98 million
2	London	Europe	15.96 million
3	Paris	Europe	13.92 million
4	Singapore	Asia	11.75 million
5	New York City	North America	11.52 million
6	Istanbul	Europe	10.37 million
7	Dubai	Asia	9.89 million
8	Kuala Lumpur	Asia	9.20 million
9	Hong Kong	Asia	8.72 million
10	Barcelona	Europe	8.41 million

MasterCard reports the following cities as the top ten biggest earners on tourism worldwide in 2013.^[22]

Rank	Country	UNWTO Region[20]	International tourists spending[22]
1	New York City	North America	$18.6 billion
2	London	Europe	$16.3 billion
3	Paris	Europe	$14.6 billion
4	Bangkok	Asia	$14.3 billion
5	Singapore	Asia	$13.5 billion
6	Tokyo	Asia	$12.7 billion
7	Seoul	Asia	$10.8 billion
8	Dubai	Asia	$10.4 billion
9	Sydney	Oceania	$10.4 billion
10	Barcelona	Europe	$8.9 billion

source : wikipedia