International Tourism
International tourism returned to pre-pandemic strength in 2024, with roughly 1.4 billion arrivals and USD 1.6 trillion in receipts. This page tracks arrivals and earnings over time, the 2020 COVID-19 collapse and recovery, and which destinations lead by visitors and by spending. Figures are the latest available from UN Tourism (UNWTO).
Key International Tourism Insights
Full recovery in 2024
An estimated 1.4 billion tourists travelled internationally in 2024 — about 99% of pre-pandemic 2019 levels and 11% above 2023, marking recovery from the sector's worst crisis.
Spending outpaced visits
International tourism receipts reached USD 1.6 trillion in 2024, roughly 4% above 2019 in real terms. Total tourism exports, including passenger transport, hit a record USD 1.9 trillion.
The 2020 collapse
In 2020, arrivals fell about 72% versus 2019 to roughly 400 million — the deepest shock in tourism history — before climbing back through 2022 and 2023.
Visits and earnings diverge
France led on arrivals with 102 million visitors in 2024, the first country ever past 100 million, while the United States led on receipts with about USD 215 billion.
International Tourist Arrivals Over Time
Annual international tourist arrivals worldwide, showing the sharp 2020 COVID-19 collapse and the recovery to near pre-pandemic levels by 2024.
Key Finding: Arrivals plunged from 1,465 million in 2019 to about 407 million in 2020, then recovered to roughly 1.4 billion by 2024 — about 99% of the 2019 level.
International Tourism Receipts Over Time
International tourism receipts (visitor spending in destination countries) in current US dollars, tracking the pandemic dip and recovery.
Key Finding: Receipts fell to roughly USD 550 billion in 2020 but rebounded to about USD 1.6 trillion in 2024, around 4% above 2019 in real terms.
Top Destinations by Arrivals (2024)
The world's most-visited countries ranked by international tourist arrivals in 2024, in millions.
Key Finding: France topped the list with 102 million arrivals, ahead of Spain (93.8M) and the United States (72.4M).
Top Earners by Tourism Receipts (2024)
Countries ranked by international tourism receipts in 2024, in US dollars billions, highlighting how spending leaders differ from arrival leaders.
Key Finding: The United States led on receipts with about USD 215 billion — far ahead of Spain ($106.5B) and the UK ($84.5B) — despite ranking third on arrivals.
International Arrivals by Region (2024)
Distribution of 2024 international tourist arrivals across world regions as defined by UN Tourism.
Key Finding: Europe dominated with 747 million arrivals (about half the global total), followed by Asia & the Pacific (316M) and the Americas (213M).
Understanding Tourism Data
Arrivals vs receipts
International tourist arrivals count inbound visitors who stay at least one night, measured as trips rather than unique people, so one traveller making several trips is counted multiple times. International tourism receipts measure the money those visitors spend within a destination on lodging, food, shopping, local transport and activities, reported in US dollars.
Why receipts don't track arrivals
A country can rank high on visitors yet lower on earnings, or the reverse. France leads the world on arrivals but trails the United States on receipts, because spending depends on trip length, prices, exchange rates and how affluent visitors are. High-volume, short-stay or budget destinations earn less per visitor than long-haul, high-spend markets.
Seasonality and the COVID caveat
Tourism is highly seasonal, peaking in summer and around holidays, so single months are not representative of a full year. The 2020 COVID-19 shock was an extreme outlier: arrivals fell roughly 72% versus 2019. Comparisons that use 2020 or 2021 as a baseline can overstate growth, so figures here are benchmarked against pre-pandemic 2019.
Data lags and revisions
Annual totals are often preliminary estimates when first released and are revised as countries report final figures, sometimes months or years later. Not every country reports on the same schedule or with the same methods, so regional and global totals are estimates that can shift between barometer editions.