France Is The World’s Top Tourism Destination
In 2016, France maintained its status as the world’s premier tourism destination, as reported by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), despite concerns over potential declines due to terror attacks.
The United States ranked second, with Spain closely following, according to the annual statistics typically released by the UNWTO in January, though they were delayed this year.
While France held the top spot with 82.6 million visitors in 2016, this marked a slight decrease of over two percent from the previous year. Despite fears that repeated terror attacks might lead to a significant drop in tourism, France’s appeal, especially its renowned gastronomy and wine, continued to attract visitors.
Tourism numbers in the United States also fell, dropping three percent to 75.61 million. Nevertheless, the country managed to keep its second-place position, just ahead of Spain, which saw a 10 percent increase in visitors to 75.56 million. Spain’s tourism industry has flourished partly because travelers who typically visit Turkey, Egypt, or North Africa are opting for Spain due to concerns about unrest in those regions.
China secured fourth place in the rankings with just under 60 million visitors, while Italy maintained its fifth position, unchanged from 2015.
The ranking is based on the number of visitors spending at least one night in the country. However, when considering the revenue generated from tourism, the United States topped the list with $206 billion (173 billion euros) in earnings for 2016, according to the UNWTO. Spain was second with around $60 billion, reflecting an increase from 2015, followed by Thailand and China.
The UK, meanwhile, dropped from third to seventh place in terms of tourism revenue, earning $34 billion. This decline is partly attributed to the devaluation of the pound against the dollar following the Brexit vote to leave the European Union.
