The
World Tourism rankings are compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as part of their
World Tourism Barometer publication, which is released three times throughout the year. In the publication, world tourism is ranked both by the number of visits and by the tourism revenue generated.
International tourist arrivals by country of destination 2010
The top four international destinations in 2010 were:
| Rank | Country | International tourist arrivals |
| 1 |  France | 78.95 million |
| 2 |  United States | 60.88 million |
| 3 |  China | 55.98 million |
| 4 |  Spain | 53.00 million |
International tourist arrivals by country of destination 2009
Out of a global total of 880 million tourists, the top ten international tourism destinations in 2009 were (see the barometer for the full rankings):
| Rank | Country | International tourist arrivals |
| 1 | France | 74.20 million |
| 2 | United States | 54.88 million |
| 3 | Spain | 52.23 million |
| 4 | China | 50.88 million |
| 5 |  Italy | 43.24 million |
| 6 |  United Kingdom | 28.20 million |
| 7 |  Turkey | 25.51 million |
| 8 |  Germany | 24.22 million |
| 9 |  Malaysia | 23.65 million |
| 10 |  Mexico | 21.45 million |
Africa
Out of the total of almost 46 million tourists to Africa in 2009, the top ten African destinations were:
| Rank | Country | International tourist arrivals |
| 1 |  Morocco | 8.34 million |
| 2 |  South Africa | 7.01 million |
| 3 |  Tunisia | 6.90 million |
| 4 |  Mozambique | 2.39 million |
| 5 |  Zimbabwe | 2.01 million |
| 6 |  Algeria | 1.91 million |
| 7 |  Botswana | 1.55 million |
| 8 |  Kenya | 1.14 million (2008) |
| 9 |  Swaziland | 0.909 million |
| 10 |  Mauritius | 0.871 million |
Middle East
Out of the total of over 53 million tourists to the Middle East in 2009, the top ten destinations were:
| Rank | Country | International tourist arrivals |
| 1 |  Egypt | 11.91 million |
| 2 |  Saudi Arabia | 10.90 million |
| 3 |  United Arab Emirates | 7.13 million (2005) |
| 4 |  Syria | 6.09 million |
| 5 |  Bahrain | 4.94 million (2007) |
| 6 |  Jordan | 3.79 million |
| 7 |  Israel | 3.45 million |
| 8 |  Lebanon | 1.85 million |
| 9 |  Qatar | 1.66 million |
| 10 |  Yemen | 0.434 million |
Americas
Out of the total of over 165 million tourists to the Americas in 2009, the top ten destinations were:
| Rank | Country | International tourist arrivals |
| 1 | United States | 54.88 million |
| 2 | Mexico | 21.45 million |
| 3 |  Canada | 15.74 million |
| 4 |  Brazil | 4.80 million |
| 5 |  Argentina | 4.31 million |
| 6 |  Dominican Republic | 3.99 million |
| 7 |  Puerto Rico | 3.55 million |
| 8 |  Chile | 2.75 million |
| 9 |  Cuba | 2.41 million |
| 10 |  Colombia | 2.15 million |
Asia-Pacific
Out of the total of over 181 million tourists to Asia and the Pacific in 2009, the top ten destinations were:
| Rank | Country | International tourist arrivals |
| 1 | China | 50.88 million |
| 1 | Malaysia | 23.65 million |
| 3 |  Hong Kong, China | 16.93 million |
| 4 |  Thailand | 14.15 million |
| 5 |  Macau, China | 10.40 million |
| 6 |  South Korea | 7.82 million |
| 7 |  Singapore | 7.49 million |
| 8 |  Japan | 6.79 million |
| 9 |  Indonesia | 6.32 million |
| 10 |  Australia | 5.58 million |
Europe
Out of the total of over 459 million tourists to Europe in 2009, the top ten destinations were
| Rank | Country | International tourist arrivals |
| 1 | Spain | 53.2 million |
| 2 | France | 49.4 million |
| 3 | Italy | 40.2 million |
| 4 | Germany | 34.7 million |
| 5 | United Kingdom | 30.1 million |
| 6 | Turkey | 21.3 million |
| 7 |  Austria | 19.4 million |
| 8 |  Greece | 14.5 million |
| 9 |  Switzerland | 13.8 million |
| 10 |  Netherlands | 12.4 million |
International tourist arrivals by country of destination 2008
The top ten international destinations in 2008 were:
| Rank | Country | International tourist arrivals |
| 1 | France | 79.22 million |
| 2 | United States | 57.94 million |
| 3 | Spain | 57.19 million |
| 4 | China | 53.05 million |
| 5 | Italy | 42.73 million |
| 6 | United Kingdom | 30.14 million |
| 7 |  Ukraine | 25.39 million |
| 8 | Turkey | 24.99 million |
| 9 | Germany | 24.87 million |
| 10 | Mexico | 22.64 million |
