What are the 10 most visited countries in the world?

Over the past few decades, tourism has been a booming sector with an average of 2.1 billion people traveling around the world each year1. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a reduction in tourism around the world, it is known that, with the strict restrictions and the closure of borders in some countries, it has been very difficult to travel.

In the current year, 2022, a small change can be noticed in this bitter panorama and some signs of improvement, hoping that the flow of tourists can increase. Therefore, in this article a list of the 10 most visited countries in the world will be made.

According to the data obtained from the UNWTO Tourism Recovery Tracker and the Data on Tourist Flows2, published by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), during the last three years, the largest tourist flows are concentrated in a list of ten countries. It should be noted that, although, between the period of 2020-2022 there are no news regarding the figures obtained, there is a brutal drop with respect to the tourist flows presented in 2018 and 2019.

Flow of international tourists (in millions of people) There are no official data regarding the flow of tourists in 2020 to France. Own production with data obtained from the World Health Organization website. Tourism

At the top of the list is France, with a figure of 54 million visits in 2021. Since 2019 France has remained in the first three places of the most visited countries in the world. Its beautiful landscapes and cities, such as Paris, make France an emblematic icon for tourists. People travel from all over the world to see its Museums, walk on its Champs Elysees and see the Eiffel Tower.

Mexico, with 35.89 million visits, is positioned in second place on the list. Mexico's rise in the ranking of countries with the largest number of tourists has been constant, even before and during the pandemic, since there have been no major restrictions on foreigners when traveling to Mexican territory. On the other hand, Mexico is the only country in the Latin American region that appears in the ranking of the 10 most visited countries in the world, given that it regularly registers more than 25 million visits per year.

On the other hand, Spain is in third place on the list with 31.7 million visitors. In recent years, this country is a clear example of the decline in international tourism, since, during 2019, Spain had a figure of 83 million tourists, however, this decreased during the pandemic with a difference of almost 50 million travelers. .

In fourth place is Turkey, with around 29.9 million visits in 20216. Tourist flows to Turkey have increased greatly between 2020 and 2021, which shows that, little by little, the sector is beginning to recover tourism in the country and it can be observed that there is a greater confidence of people to make international trips.

On the other hand, Italy is ranked fifth on the list with an approximate amount of 26.3 million visitors7. It is necessary to mention that Italy, along with Spain, was one of the countries most affected on the European continent by the spread of Covid-19. So much so that it has permeated the country's tourism sector, having decreased from 64.5 million visits in 2019 to 26.3 million in 2021.

In sixth place is the United States, with 22.1 million people visiting this country in 20218. It should be noted that, despite the fact that the United States has not been the most visited in the last three years, it does occupy the first place of The countries that obtain the most income from tourist flows international.

With an approximate of 14.7 million visitors, Greece is positioned in seventh place on the list. Both Greece and the following countries on the list had not appeared in the list of the 10 most visited countries in 2019, but they have had a great recovery in their tourism sector that took their place from countries like Thailand or China.

The last three places on the list are held by Austria, in eighth place, with 12.7 million tourists; in ninth place, Germany with an approximate of 11.7 million; and Croatia with a total of 10.6 million international and national tourists.

Finally, the years of the pandemic have marked many obstacles, both for countries that live off tourism and for travelers who like to discover new places. The constant volatility of the current situation has permeated the tourism sector in many countries and the economic gains that these countries estimate from the annual tourist flows.

Regarding the figures obtained for this article, they are an approximation of the real statistics, since not all States and international organizations, such as the World Bank or the World Tourism Organization, have the updates until the end of 2021, likewise, the data shown in 2020 are estimates made by these institutions.