In 2023, the most visited city in the United States by international tourists was New York, attracting just under nine million visitors. Miami and Los Angeles followed in the ranking, with roughly 4.4 million and 3.6 million international visitors, respectively.
The Mexican city of Cancún was the top Latin American destination for foreign visitors in 2018, with approximately 6.04 million international tourist arrivals. This number was expected to increase by 1.8 percent in 2019, reaching 6.15 million foreign arrivals that year. Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, ranked second on the list of top city destinations for international tourism in Latin America, with nearly 2.7 million international tourist arrivals in 2018 and an estimate of 2.77 million arrivals for 2019. During the depicted period, the most visited city in the whole American continent was New York.
Bangkok had the most international overnight visitors in 2018 with 22.78 million, followed by Paris and London with 19.1 and 19.09 million, respectively.
Is Bangkok the world’s number one tourist destination?
Bangkok has become increasingly popular as a tourist attraction over the past years, and its popularity looks unlikely to wane any time soon. The number of overnight visitors to Thailand’s capital has more than doubled since 2010. The city has many attractions on offer, including temples, local markets, a varied nightlife and shopping. Therefore, it may come as no surprise that Bangkok was also one of the leading cities in international visitor spending worldwide in 2018, with visitors to the city spending over 20 billion U.S. dollars. Although tourists spend a lot of money when traveling to Bangkok, it still ranked among the 30 cheapest holiday destinations in the world by average price per night per person in 2018.
Global tourism industry
Globally, the tourism industry has experienced continuous year-over-year growth for the past decade. In 2018, the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide was estimated to reach approximately 1.4 billion – the figure having more than doubled over the past 15 years.
The city park with the highest annual visitation in 2023 was Central Park in New York, accounting for a total of 42 million visitors. The second most visited city park in that year was Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, with nearly half the visitation of Central Park, at 24 million.
According to a study by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Paris was the city with the highest direct travel and tourism contribution to GDP in 2022. That year, the direct travel and tourism GDP in the capital of France - the country with the highest number of international tourist arrivals worldwide - amounted to roughly 35.65 billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Beijing and Orlando followed on the ranking in 2022, with a direct travel and tourism GDP of around 32.6 billion and 31.1 billion U.S. dollars, respectively.
This statistic shows the most visited tourist attractions worldwide as of April 2014. Each year, 22.5 million people visit Niagara Falls.
Most visited tourist attractions - additional information
Attracting just short of 40 million visitors per year, the Las Vegas Strip was the most visited tourist attraction in the world as of April 2014, closely followed by Times Square in New York City with 39.2 million. The top nine tourist attractions, and 28 out of the top 50, were located in the United States. With so much to see and do in their own country, it is not surprising that many U.S. travelers choose to take domestic trips over international ones – in 2014, 84 percent of people taking trips were traveling domestically, compared to just 16 percent traveling abroad.
The Las Vegas Strip, situated in Las Vegas in the state of Nevada, is well-known for its gambling and casino scene, nightlife, restaurants and shopping. The city is packed with resorts offering a variety of entertainment for visitors. Nevada’s most famous industry, casino gaming, was expected to generate around 13 billion U.S. dollars in 2015. Las Vegas is also a leader in the U.S. meetings and conventions industry, hosting more than 22 thousand conventions in 2013.
Outside of the U.S., the most visited tourist attraction was the Forbidden City in Beijing, receiving more than 15 million visitors annually. Built in the early fifteenth century, the Forbidden City was home to Emperors and the center of Chinese government from the Ming dynasty until the end of the Qing dynasty in 1912. The most visited tourist attraction in Europe was the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey. The ancient market received 15 million visitors in 2014, although only ranked 11th worldwide.
The number of international tourist arrivals to the selected European destinations increased significantly in 2023 over the previous year, experiencing strong signs of recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in some cases even surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Overall, Paris and the Île-de-France region recorded the highest figure among the selected destinations in 2023, with around **** million inbound tourist arrivals. London and Istanbul followed in the ranking that year, with roughly **** million and **** million arrivals, respectively. What are the most visited countries by international tourists? Both before and after the health crisis, France was the country with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide. In 2023, inbound arrivals to France reached *** million, the highest figure reported by the country to date. Meanwhile, the United States, which ranked third by inbound arrivals that year, was the country with the highest international tourism receipts worldwide. Has inbound tourism recovered from the impact of COVID-19? While the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide grew sharply in 2023 compared to the previous year, it remained approximately ** percent lower than in 2019. Overall, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the global GDP was **** percent below pre-pandemic levels in 2023.
In 2023, London was the leading European city tourism destination based on the number of bed nights. That year, bed nights in the United Kingdom's capital exceeded 78 million, denoting a sharp annual increase but not fully recovering yet from the impact of COVID-19. Meanwhile, Paris and Istanbul followed in the ranking in 2023, with roughly 52 million and nearly 30 million bed nights. What are the most visited countries in Europe? While the French capital came in second among leading European cities based on bed nights, France topped the ranking of the European countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals in 2023, ahead of Spain, Italy, and Turkey. Meanwhile, when looking at European countries with the highest tourism receipts that year, Spain recorded the highest figure, with over 90 billion U.S. dollars, followed by the United Kingdom. How many international tourists visit Europe every year? In 2023, the number of international tourist arrivals in Europe grew significantly over the previous year, totaling over 700 million. This figure, however, remained below pre-pandemic levels. Overall, either before and after the impact of COVID-19, Europe was the region with the highest number of international tourist arrivals worldwide.
In 2024, Cuzco, Peru, was named the top destination in Latin America by travelers, receiving a score of 87.47. The small southern city of Antigua, Guatemala, followed in second place with a score of nearly 86 points.
Mexico was the most visited destination by international tourists in Latin America in 2023, surpassing ** million tourist arrivals in that year. In the second place, but far behind, was the Dominican Republic. A global tourism powerhouse By developing airport infrastructure and calibrating new direct flights, Mexico has set international tourism high on its priorities list. At the forefront of Mexico's spike in international tourism is the FONATUR, or Mexico's National Fund for Tourism Development. The tourism body worked in the expansion of Cancun's airport and other four key tourist airports in the country. Plus, Mexico City's airport added new international direct flights in the *****, resulting in being rated as the best internationally connected airport in Latin America in 2019. With this and other developments in this sector, the North American country managed to rank among the top 20 destinations in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Ranking that year. South America's tourism leader Through its geographically diverse landscape and globally recognized wine industry, Argentina has grown its international tourism sector. The influx of foreign visitors to Argentina can in some way be attributed to the country's air-travel infrastructure. The national air carrier, Aerolineas Argentinas, was one of the top airline operating in Latin America in 2019. That same year, passenger traffic to Argentinian airports grew by **** percent. Though in April 2020, in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the arrival of international air travel tourists to Argentina came to a complete halt, ensuing a similar fate of the global tourism industry.
The number of international tourist arrivals worldwide rose sharply in 2023 compared to the previous year across all the most visited destinations in the world. Overall, France was the most visited country by inbound travelers worldwide in 2023, with *** million international tourist arrivals. Spain, the United States, and Italy followed in the ranking that year. Has global inbound tourism recovered from the impact of COVID-19? In 2023, the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide totaled approximately *** billion. While this figure represented a ** percent annual increase, it remained below the peak in inbound tourist arrivals reported in 2019, the year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, international tourism receipts worldwide exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2023, peaking at *** trillion U.S. dollars. What are the most popular global regions for inbound tourism? When breaking down the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide by region, Europe has consistently reported the highest volume of inbound travelers, both before and after the impact of the health crisis. In 2023, this region alone accounted for roughly ** percent of global inbound tourist arrivals. Meanwhile, Asia and the Pacific recorded the second-highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide in 2023.
Digital nomads generally combine remote work and travel for various reasons and lengths of time. Passionate about traveling, they make the most of new technologies and only need an internet connection to work from anywhere in the world. As of June 2025, the United States was the most visited country by digital nomads, accounting for roughly ** percent of trips by the surveyed digital nomads worldwide. Profile of digital nomads As of June 2025, U.S. digital nomads were the most representative nationality of the global digital nomad community, representing nearly **** of this community of worker travelers. Generally self-employed, female digital nomads worked primarily in the marketing and creative industries, while men were more likely employed as software or web developers. Looking at the income level of digital nomads, a 2025 survey revealed that approximately ** percent of respondents reported earning between 100 thousand and *** thousand U.S. dollars per year. How do digital nomads choose a destination? Unlike business travelers who go to a fixed location, digital nomads are free to choose their destinations as they see fit. However, their choice is generally based on specific criteria. According to a global online survey, the cost of living and a fast, accessible internet connection were the two main factors in choosing a destination among the digital nomad community The study also revealed that the crime rate and environmental safety play a decisive role in the decision-making process of digital nomads when they look for a destination.
Florence, the famous Italian city, was the best-rated European city by readers of a U.S. travel magazine in 2024, scoring 90.55 out of 100 points. Funchal, in the Portuguese island of Madeira, ranked second with 89.82 points.
When it comes to global tourism, some cities are more expensive than others. They may also attract tourists that are willing to spend a bit more. Dubai had by far the largest international visitor spending in the world in 2018 at 30.82 billion U.S. dollars.
In 2023, the number of overseas resident visits to the United Kingdom totaled 38 million, representing a growth of over 20 percent from the previous year. The figure was projected to reach 38.7 million in 2024. Has the UK’s tourism industry completely recovered from the coronavirus pandemic? Like in most countries, the travel restrictions put in place to stem the spread of the coronavirus wreaked havoc on the UK’s tourism industry. Overseas visitor numbers dropped to 7.1 million in 2021, representing a drop of over 80 percent from 2019. While the figure reported for 2023 showed a continued recovery in terms of overseas visitors to the UK, it remained below pre-pandemic levels. However, in terms of spending among the UK’s leading inbound travel markets, most overseas visitors spent more in 2023 than in 2019, with visitors from the UK’s leading inbound travel market, the United States, spending around 50 percent more during their travels than in 2019. What are the most visited cities in the UK? Unsurprisingly, London consistently ranked as the most visited town or city in the UK among international tourists in recent years, drawing in 20.27 million visitors in 2023. This was around tenfold the number of the second-most visited city, Edinburgh, which received 2.32 million visitors during the same year. As the UK’s capital city, London’s tourist attractions are as varied as the city itself; however, one particularly strong draw for inbound visitors is Royal Family-related tourism. This is evident with the top two most visited paid tourist attractions in England being based in London and either belonging to the Royal Family or being run by a Royal-affiliated charity. Meanwhile, among UK residents, London ranks as the second most popular destination for a summer staycation, with the South West ranking first.
In 2018, over ************ South Korean visitors traveled to China (measured in person-times). South Korea remained the most important international source market for China's tourism industry. Japan, Russia, and the United States followed with around *********** person-times. The figures included all visitors ranging from business travelers to people visiting friends and relatives. A significant proportion of overseas travelers visited more than **** cities in China.
China’s inbound tourism industry Over the past decade, China’s revenue from inbound tourism has been a cornerstone contribution to its foreign exchange income despite some fluctuations resulting from international relations. By improving its domestic travel environment, including among others more convenient public transportation and high-speed railways, improved hotel facilities, and refurbished tourist attractions, China managed to attract significant numbers of overseas visitors, with a record-breaking *********** international arrivals in 2019. With COVID-19 gripping the tourism industry worldwide since early 2020, China’s inbound market was no exception. As the vaccination rollouts and other measures mitigated the impact on its domestic travel economy, international tourism in China remains stagnated due to high infection rates outside of China and recurring virus variance. A sketch of China-interested travelers Of the foreign visitors to China, almost **** were aged between 25 and 44 years as observed in 2019. As for their destinations, in the same year, Guangdong province welcomed the largest number of foreign tourists, with approximately *********** arrivals registered for an overnight travel stay. Guangdong’s innovation incubator, Shenzhen, led the most popular cities list for foreign travelers, attracting more than ********** international overnight and same-day visitors in 2017.
Washington, D.C. had the highest net migration for 18 to 24-year-olds in 2021, making it the most attractive city among the generation Z population. The number of Zoomers who moved in less the number of Zoomers who moved out of Washington stood at ******. Columbia, SC, and Boston, MA, were the two other cities where this figure where the net migration exceeded 10,000.
Of the most populous cities in the U.S., San Jose, California had the highest annual income requirement at ******* U.S. dollars annually for homeowners to have an affordable and comfortable life in 2024. This can be compared to Houston, Texas, where homeowners needed an annual income of ****** U.S. dollars in 2024.
As of 2024, Austin was rated the city in the United States with the best smart city infrastructure, with an index score of ****. Seattle and New York City followed, with **** and ****, respectively. While Austin and Seattle are both in the top three of the best prepared U.S. cities for a smart city future , New York City ranked eighth, with a general index score of ****.
This statistic shows the top 25 cities in the United States with the highest resident population as of July 1, 2022. There were about 8.34 million people living in New York City as of July 2022.
In 2023, the most visited city in the United States by international tourists was New York, attracting just under nine million visitors. Miami and Los Angeles followed in the ranking, with roughly 4.4 million and 3.6 million international visitors, respectively.