The World's Top Tourism Destinations

international tourist arrivals/rank Country Arrivals (millions) /Percent change (2003/2004)/ Market share (2002 2003 2004 )
1. France 77.0 75.0 75.1 0.1% 9.8%
2. Spain 52.3 51.8 53.6 3.4 7.0
3. United States 43.6 41.2 46.1 11.8 6.0
4. China 36.8 33.0 41.8 26.7 5.5
5. Italy 39.8 39.6 37.1 –6.4 4.9
6. United Kingdom 24.2 24.7 27.8 12.3 3.6
7. Hong Kong (China) 16.6 15.5 21.8 40.4 2.9
8. Mexico 19.7 18.7 20.6 10.5 2.7
9. Germany 18.0 18.4 20.1 9.5 2.6
10. Austria 18.6 19.1 19.4 1.5 2.5
11. Canada 20.1 17.5 19.2 9.2 2.5
12. Turkey 12.8 13.3 16.8 26.1 2.2
13. Malaysia 13.3 10.6 15.7 48.5 2.1
14. Ukraine 10.5 12.5 15.6 24.9 2.0
15. Poland 14.0 13.7 14.3 4.2 1.9
16. Greece 14.2 14.0 — — —
17. Hungary — — 12.2 — 1.6
18. Thailand 10.9 10.0 11.7 16.5 1.5
19. Portugal 11.6 11.7 11.6 –0.8 1.5
20. Netherlands 9.6 9.2 9.6 5.1 1.3
21. Russian Federation 7.9 8.5 9.2 7.5 1.2
22. Saudi Arabia 7.5 7.3 8.6 17.0 1.1
23. Macao (China) 6.6 6.3 8.3 31.9 1.1
24. Croatia 6.9 7.4 7.9 6.8 1.0
25. Ireland 6.5 6.8 7.0 3.2 0.9

Source: World Tourism Organization (WTO). Web: www.world-tourism.org .

World's Top Ten Tourism Earners, 2004 $ in billions
2003 2004
1. United States $64.3 $74.5
2. Spain 39.6 45.2
3. France 36.6 40.8
4. Italy 31.2 35.7
5. Germany 23.1 27.7
6. United Kingdom 22.7 27.3
7. China 17.4 25.7
8. Turkey 13.2 15.9
9. Austria 14.0 15.4
10. Australia 10.3 13.0

Source: World Tourism Organization (WTO).

喜欢中国,香港吃的买的都便宜,而且又好又便宜!

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/6097/inboundig4.gif

Nice to see that Spain and China are always growing.

^^
Yeah, looking at the chart, the growth curves of Spain and China are almost similar. :okay: :cheer:

doubt posts.

IMHO, France is overrated as a tourist destination to be SO MUCH ahead of everywhere else. Don't get me wrong, France is a nice place to visit, but to be THAT much ahead of all the other places?

^^

Agree. Of course Paris and Normandy are very nice and historical, France also have good skiing places. Paris is not that special in my eyes. But that France are double as much as Italy etc. is a bit overrated. I think it's specially many Americans who wanna go to France.

^^ France is a nice place where 250,000,000 Europeans can travel by car. They are the geographical heart of euro area. That's the key ;)

^^

Yes that also make it. It's also the closet place for the British to go on skiing vacations. :)

i like food,so hong kong is my best

Why not add China and HK together, it's no need to separate everything as one country...And China will get close to Spain...

Hi, friends, who has datas of 2005....

^^

Hong Kong has it's own currency. And are a bit different for PRC. Why do you else think that Hong Hong has it own forum here on SSC.

^^

Hong Kong has it's own currency. And are a bit different for PRC. Why do you else think that Hong Hong has it own forum here on SSC.
I doubt SSC has much political influence in the real world lol

But you're right, HK has its own currency, government and territory. While HK has been part of China since 1997, it's still a Special Administive Region, so it doesn't truly qualify as being "part of China" when it comes to statistics like this.

Why not add China and HK together, it's no need to separate everything as one country...

everyone know HK is china ,no need to say HK China!
you know china is so big and also every city has their own food,Beijing ,xichuan foods are so hot & spicy,I like cantonese food only!

大家乐的叉烧饭,yum yum!

^^^ Cantonese duck (I don't know its correct translation into english) it's quite nice!!!!!!!!!!

^^

Hong Kong has it's own currency. And are a bit different for PRC.

HK accept RMB.

^^^ Cantonese duck (I don't know its correct translation into english) it's quite nice!!!!!!!!!!
广东烧鸭,only in Canton and HK , hurry come to HK :wave:

Correct me if I am wrong. Where is Beijing Duck's reputation?

^^^ Cantonese duck (I don't know its correct translation into english) it's quite nice!!!!!!!!!!

Guangdong Shaoya = Guangdong Roast Duck. :eat: :cheers:

@taibei12345

There are quite nice Chinese Restaurants in Madrid that make Guangdong Roast Duck (thanks YelloPerilo for its translation) quite nice, but I'm sure in Hong Kong Guangdong roast duck tastes better. :)

@Ohno

I prefeer Guangdong Roast Duck, but of course Beijing's Duck is more popular among western countries.

I think that food really make good for tourism in any country. After being all day walking and visit a city, having a nice food waiting for you really give points to the visited country.

Does HK's number of visitors include those from mainland China?

i just came back from HK,i have been Hk for 4 weeks holiday,i 've bought lots of cheap & nice things ,and i 've tried lots of foods......
if HK is not so hot,i will live there for my life!

Does HK's number of visitors include those from mainland China?

yes,mainly from mainland,the people from mainland come to buy baby stuffs,medicines.
HK stuffs surely good!

I prefeer Guangdong Roast Duck, but of course Beijing's Duck is more popular among western countries.

you've never try HK cha siu(roast pork) yet,come to 大家乐! :)

If that's the case, I suppose the Mainland China figure also includes visitors from HK? So if the mainland and HK figures were to merge together, the combined China figure would be much less than the sum of China and HK right?

If that's the case, I suppose the Mainland China figure also includes visitors from HK? So if the mainland and HK figures were to merge together, the combined China figure would be much less than the sum of China and HK right?
you know in HK most residents are came from mainland,when is holiday 1/3 of the residents will go back home(mainland).

^^

Yes that also make it. It's also the closet place for the British to go on skiing vacations. :)
And the whole dutch population goes on summer vacation in France ;)

Does anybody know how many tourist arrivals did China have in 2005?

Many travelers in China are from HK, and lots of mainland Chinese visit HK. If you combine the 2, all those now counted as international travels will have to be deducted from the numbers.

Many travelers in China are from HK, and lots of mainland Chinese visit HK. If you combine the 2, all those now counted as international travels will have to be deducted from the numbers.


Are you sure that's how they count? I don't think that's the way it's done on the US/Mexico border because that would really skew the numbers. Is there some official way of tracking because I've read that Chinese don't really stay in hotels. At least the Mainlanders don't. They only stay for the day then go back. So how do they count that. Do they really count heads at the border? In China's case, since the Chinese don't really travel long enough to stay in hotels and if they do they usually stay with family, hotel occupancy maybe more of a way to measure tourists from beyond greater China.

I bet the lowest point in China's curve has SARS to blame (and so HK), but then, how come USA and Italy sufferred the same? Because they don't have as many Chinese tourists to go there?!
The rise of China is a great sign to the worlds tourism industry: more people would come, and more Chinese people would afford to go abroad.

My guess is that a lot of the USA's drop has to do with the 9/11 attacks. Subsequently, I believe visa application procedures were made much more stringent, and general uneasiness over flying in the U.S. also didn't help, (although I think the amount that it hurt is probably exaggerated by airline executives looking for government handhouts).

I think they count number of visitors who enter with business and tourist visas, so HK visitors to mainland are probably nto counted because they have 返乡证，but mainland visitors to HK are counted because they have tourist visas.

I've read that Chinese don't really stay in hotels. At least the Mainlanders don't. They only stay for the day then go back. So how do they count that. Do they really count heads at the border? In China's case, since the Chinese don't really travel long enough to stay in hotels and if they do they usually stay with family, hotel occupancy maybe more of a way to measure tourists from beyond greater China.

HK is just a small city,most of the mainland people stay one day then go back, some of them just go to buy medicines and baby stuffs.

I think they count number of visitors who enter with business and tourist visas, so HK visitors to mainland are probably nto counted because they have 返乡证，but mainland visitors to HK are counted because they have tourist visas.

you can hear the number of visitors from the news,they counted everyday.

China is destined to become the world's TOP tourism destination by 2020 according to predictions. I, however, think it will become the world's no. 1 tourist destination after the 2008 Olympics.

People are literally going to enter China for their very first times and it is going to dramatically change their view of China.