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 annually. 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
In 2018, there were 1.401 billion international tourist arrivals worldwide, with a growth of 5.4% as compared to 2017. The top 10 international tourism destinations in 2018 were :| Rank | Destination | International tourist arrivals | International tourist arrivals | Change | Change |
| 1 | 89.4 million | 86.9 million | 2.9 | 5.1 | |
| 2 | 82.8 million | 81.9 million | 1.1 | 8.7 | |
| 3 | 79.6 million | 76.9 million | 3.5 | 0.7 | |
| 4 | 62.9 million | 60.7 million | 3.6 | 2.5 | |
| 5 | 62.1 million | 58.2 million | 6.7 | 11.2 | |
| 6 | 45.8 million | 37.6 million | 21.7 | 24.1 | |
| 7 | 41.4 million | 39.3 million | 5.5 | 12.0 | |
| 8 | 38.9 million | 37.5 million | 3.8 | 5.2 | |
| 9 | 38.3 million | 35.5 million | 7.9 | 9.1 | |
| 10 | 36.3 million | 37.6 million | 3.5 | 5.1 |
Africa
In 2017, there were over 62.7 million international tourist arrivals to Africa, an increase of 8.5% from 2016. Preliminary numbers for 2018 indicate a similar increase.In 2017, the top ten African destinations were:
Americas
In 2018, there were 215.7 million international tourist arrivals to the Americas, an increase of 2.3%. In 2018, the top ten destinations were :| Rank | Destination | International tourist arrivals | International tourist arrivals | Change | Change |
| 1 | 79.6 million | 76.9 million | 3.5 | 0.7 | |
| 2 | 41.4 million | 39.3 million | 5.5 | 12.0 | |
| 3 | 21.1 million | 20.9 million | 1.2 | 4.6 | |
| 4 | 6.9 million | 6.7 million | 3.4 | 0.8 | |
| 5 | 6.6 million | 6.6 million | 0.5 | 0.6 | |
| 6 | 6.6 million | 6.2 million | 6.2 | 3.48 | |
| 7 | 5.7 million | 6.5 million | 11.3 | 14.3 | |
| 8 | 4.7 million | 4.6 million | 0.2 | 15.6 | |
| 9 | 4.4 million | 4.0 million | 9.6 | 7.7 | |
| 10 | 3.9 million | 3.6 million | 7.4 | 9.5 |
Asia-Pacific
In 2018, there were over 347 million international tourist arrivals to Asia-Pacific, an increase of 7.3% over 2017. In 2018, the top ten destinations were :| Rank | Destination | International tourist arrivals | International tourist arrivals | Change | Change |
| 1 | 62.9 million | 60.7 million | 3.6 | 2.5 | |
| 2 | 38.3 million | 35.5 million | 6.8 | 8.8 | |
| 3 | 31.2 million | 28.7 million | 8.7 | 19.4 | |
| 4 | 29.3 million | 27.9 million | 4.9 | 5.0 | |
| 5 | 25.8 million | 25.9 million | 0.4 | 3.0 | |
| 6 | 18.5 million | 17.3 million | 7.2 | 9.9 | |
| 7 | 17.4 million | 15.5 million | 12.1 | 6.7 | |
| 8 | 15.5 million | 12.9 million | 19.9 | 29.1 | |
| 9 | 15.3 million | 13.3 million | 15.1 | 22.7 | |
| 10 | 14.7 million | 13.9 million | 5.5 | 7.7 |
Europe
In 2018, there were around 710 million international tourist arrivals to Europe, an increase of 5.5% over 2017. In 2018, the top ten destinations were :| Rank | Destination | International tourist arrivals | International tourist arrivals | Change | Change |
| 1 | 89.4 million | 86.9 million | 2.9 | 5.1 | |
| 2 | 82.8 million | 81.9 million | 1.1 | 8.7 | |
| 3 | 62.1 million | 58.3 million | 6.7 | 11.2 | |
| 4 | 45.8 million | 37.6 million | 21.7 | 24.1 | |
| 5 | 38.9 million | 37.5 million | 3.8 | 5.2 | |
| 6 | 36.3 million | 37.7 million | 3.5 | 5.1 | |
| 7 | 30.8 million | 29.5 million | 4.6 | 4.8 | |
| 8 | 30.1 million | 27.2 million | 10.8 | 9.7 | |
| 9 | 24.6 million | 24.4 million | 0.7 | 0.7 | |
| 10 | 22.8 million | 21.2 million | 7.5 | 16.5 |
Middle East
In 2017, there were 57.7 million international tourist arrivals to the Middle East, an increase of 4.1% over 2016. Preliminary numbers for 2018 indicate an similar increase. In 2017, the top ten destinations were:International tourism receipts
International tourism receipts grew to billion in 2018, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 4.4% from 2017. The World Tourism Organization reports the following destinations as the top ten tourism earners for the year 2018, with the United States by far the top earner.| Rank | Region | International tourism receipts | International tourism receipts | Change |
| 1 | 214.5 | 210.7 | 1.8% | |
| 2 | 73.8 | 68.1 | 8.4% | |
| 3 | 67.3 | 60.7 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | 63.0 | 56.9 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | 51.9 | 49.0 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | 49.3 | 44.2 | 11.5% | |
| 7 | 45.0 | 41.7 | 7.9% | |
| 8 | 43.0 | 39.8 | 8.0% | |
| 9 | 41.1 | 34.1 | 20.5% | |
| 10 | 40.4 | 38.6 | 4.7% |
Africa
Americas
| Rank | Region | International tourism receipts |
| 1 | 214,468 | |
| 2 | 22,510 | |
| 3 | 21,936 | |
| 4 | 7,561 | |
| 5 | 5,917 | |
| 6 | 5,558 | |
| 7 | 5,556 | |
| 8 | 4,608 | |
| 9 | 3,947 | |
| 10 | 3,903 |
Asia-Pacific
| Rank | Region | International tourism receipts |
| 1 | 63,042 | |
| 2 | 45,035 | |
| 3 | 41,115 | |
| 4 | 40,386 | |
| 5 | 40,187 | |
| 6 | 36,703 | |
| 7 | 28,568 | |
| 8 | 20,528 | |
| 9 | 19,143 | |
| 10 | 15,319 |
Europe
| Rank | Region | International tourism receipts |
| 1 | 73,765 | |
| 2 | 67,370 | |
| 3 | 51,882 | |
| 4 | 49,262 | |
| 5 | 42,977 | |
| 6 | 25,220 | |
| 7 | 22,979 | |
| 8 | 19,621 | |
| 9 | 19,029 | |
| 10 | 18,641 | |
| 11 | 17,042 |
Middle East
International tourism expenditures
The World Tourism Organization reports the following source countries as the top ten spenders on international tourism for the year 2018, with China by far being the top spender:| Rank | Country | International tourism expenditure | International tourism expenditure | Change |
| 1 | $277 billion | $257.7 billion | 5 | |
| 2 | $144 billion | $135.0 billion | 7 | |
| 3 | $94 billion | $89.1 billion | 1 | |
| 4 | $76 billion | $71.4 billion | 3 | |
| 5 | $48 billion | $41.4 billion | 11 | |
| 6 | $37 billion | $34.2 billion | 10 | |
| 7 | $35 billion | $31.1 billion | 11 | |
| 8 | $33 billion | $31.8 billion | 4 | |
| 9 | $32 billion | $30.6 billion | 1 | |
| 10 | $30 billion | $27.7 billion | 4 |