Ten Most Visited Countries In The World
10 Most Visited Countries [Map]
by Gennaro Salamone
Filed under Travel News
Each year, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) collects data on the international tourist arrivals for every country in the world. The most visited countries for the past year included six from Europe, two from North America, and two from Asia (see map and list below).
Most visited countries in the world [Map © Enduring Wanderlust]
1. France 76.8 million visitors
2. United States 59.7 million visitors
3. China 55.7 million visitors
4. Spain 52.7 million visitors
5. Italy 43.6 million visitors
6. United Kingdom 28.1 million visitors
7. Turkey 27 million visitors
8. Germany 26.9 million visitors
9. Malaysia 24.6 million visitors
10. Mexico 22.4 million visitors
*Statistics from the UNWTO
China made the biggest jump passing Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom to reach third on the list. Another Asian country, Malaysia, is a surprising entry in the top ten most popular countries to visit. A past visit to Kuala Lumpur leads me to believe this is largely based on business travelers to the capital city. The rest of the list especially France, Spain, Italy, and the United States have been mainstays for many years.
Another important note from the UNWTO study was that world tourism arrivals went up this past year after dropping in the previous year. That was the first drop in overall tourism in the past two decades.
Check out this chart: Why Do People Travel? WHY DO PEOPLE TRAVEL
World tourism arrivals reaches 940 million in 2010 according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The majority or 51 percent of the international tourists were motivated to travel for leisure, recreation, and vacations. Another 27 percent were driven to visit family and friends (VFR) or to make religious pilgrimages to places such as Mecca, Jerusalem, and the Vatican. Business travelers rounded out the group of inbound tourists with a showing of 15 percent.
It’s striking that holiday tourism more than doubled business travel and VFR combined. In addition to the statistics related to purpose of tourism, the overall numbers showed a recovery for international tourism from the past couple of years along with the continued increase of air transport versus ground travel. http://www.enduringwanderlust.com/most-visited-countries/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Endu (Why people travel)http://www.enduringwanderlust.com/why-do-people-travel-chart/
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I owe my life to Hitler, though I never met the man. My father was paid to stop Hitler, so there is no conflict of interest. I was given a thunk on the back o' the head by God when I was fifteen, and within a week began to write. I haven't stopped. My first...
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