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, UN regions and subregions are ranked by the number of international visitor arrivals, by the revenue generated by inboundtourism, and by the expenditures of outbound travelers.
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WORLD RANKINGS
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| Rank | Country | UNWTO Region | International tourist arrivals (2012)[6] | International tourist arrivals (2011)[6] | Change (2011 to 2012) | Change (2010 to 2011) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  France | Europe | 83.0 million | 81.6 million | +1.8% | +5.0% |
| 2 |  United States | North America | 67.0 million | 62.7 million | +6.8% | +4.9% |
| 3 |  China | Asia | 57.7 million | 57.6 million | +0.3% | +3.4% |
| 4 |  Spain | Europe | 57.7 million | 56.2 million | +2.7% | +6.6% |
| 5 |  Italy | Europe | 46.4 million | 46.1 million | +0.5% | +5.7% |
| 6 |  Turkey | Europe | 35.7 million | 34.7 million | +3.0% | +10.5% |
| 7 |  Germany | Europe | 30.4 million | 28.4 million | +7.3% | +5.5% |
| 8 |  United Kingdom | Europe | 29.3 million | 29.3 million | -0.1% | +3.6% |
| 9 |  Russia | Europe | 25.7 million | 22.7 million | +13.4% | +11.9% |
| 10 |  Malaysia | Asia | 25.0 million | 24.7 million | +1.3% | +0.6% |
| Note 1: see the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer for the full rankings. Note 2:Turkey is classified as part of Europe in the UNWTO tourism rankings geolocation scheme.[ | ||||||
In 2012, there were over 233.5 million international tourist arrivals to Asia and the Pacific, an increase of 7.0% over 2011. In 2012, the top ten destinations were:
ASIA RANKINGS
| Rank | Country | International tourist arrivals (2012) | International tourist arrivals (2011) | Change (2011 to 2012) | Change (2010 to 2011) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 57.7 million | 57.5 million | +0.3% | +3.4% |
| 2 | Malaysia | 25.0 million | 24.7 million | +1.3% | +0.6% |
| 3 |  Hong Kong, China | 23.7 million | 22.3 million | +6.5% | +11.1% |
| 4 |  Thailand | 22.3 million | 19.2 million | +16.2% | +20.7% |
| 5 |  Macau, China | 13.5 million | 12.9 million | +5.0% | +8.4% |
| 6 |  South Korea | 11.1 million | 9.7 million | +13.7% | +11.3% |
| 7 |  Japan | 8.3 million | 6.2 million | +34.6% | -27.8% |
| 8 |  Indonesia | 8.0 million | 7.6 million | +5.2% | +9.2% |
| 9 |  Taiwan | 7.3 million | 6.0 million | +20.1% | +9.3% |
| 10 |  Vietnam | 6.8 million | 6.0 million | +13.9% | +19.1% |
International tourism receipts grew to US$1.07 trillion (€837 billion) in 2012, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 4.0% from 2011.[ The World Tourism Organization reports the following countries as the top ten tourism earners for the year 2012, with the United States by far the top earner.
Three Southeast Asian countries are among the top 15 destinations by international tourism receipts, according to the latest statistics by the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Ranked 11th, Thailand leads the pack with $26.3 billion followed by Malaysia (14) with $18.3 billion and Singapore (15) with $18 billion. The worldwide ranking is topped by the United States followed by Spain and France.
| Rank | Country | UNWTO Region[11] | International tourism receipts (2012)[6] | International tourism receipts (2011)[12] | Change (2011 to 2012) | Change (2010 to 2011) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | North America | $126.2 billion | $115.6 billion | +9.2% | +11.7% |
| 2 | Spain | Europe | $55.9 billion | $59.9 billion | -6.6% | +14.0% |
| 3 | France | Europe | $53.7 billion | $54.5 billion | -1.5% | +16.2% |
| 4 | China | Asia | $50.0 billion | $48.5 billion | +3.2% | +5.8% |
| 5 | Macau, China | Asia | $43.7 billion | $38.5 billion | +13.7% | +38.3% |
| 6 | Italy | Europe | $41.2 billion | $43.0 billion | -4.2% | +10.9% |
| 7 | Germany | Europe | $38.1 billion | $38.9 billion | -1.9% | +12.1% |
| 8 | United Kingdom | Europe | $36.4 billion | $35.1 billion | +3.7% | +8.2% |
| 9 | Hong Kong, China | Asia | $32.1 billion | $27.7 billion | +16.0% | +24.6% |
| 10 |  Australia | Oceania | $31.5 billion | $31.5 billion | +0.2% | +8.1% |
The World Tourism Organization reports the following countries as the top ten biggest spenders on international tourism for the year 2012.
| Rank | Country | UNWTO Region] | International tourism expenditure (2012)[6] | International tourism expenditure (2011)[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | Asia | $102.0 billion | $72.6 billion |
| 2 | Germany | Europe | $83.8 billion | $85.9 billion |
| 3 | United States | North America | $83.5 billion | $78.2 billion |
| 4 | United Kingdom | Europe | $52.3 billion | $51.0 billion |
| 5 | Russia | Europe | $42.8 billion | $32.9 billion |
| 6 | France | Europe | $37.2 billion | $44.1 billion |
| 7 |  Canada | North America | $35.1 billion | $33.3 billion |
| 8 | Japan | Asia | $27.9 billion | $27.2 billion |
| 9 | Australia | Oceania | $27.6 billion | $26.7 billion |
| 10 | Italy | Europe | $26.4 billion | $28.7 billion |
Chinese travellers spent a record US$ 102 billion on international
tourism in 2012, up 37% on 2011. Boosted by rising disposable
incomes, a relaxation of restrictions on foreign travel and an
appreciating currency, Chinese tourism spending has increased
almost eightfold in 12 years, up from US$ 13 billion in 2000.
In 2005 China ranked seventh in international tourism expenditure,
and has since overtaken Italy, Japan, France and the United
Kingdom. With the 2012 surge, China leaped to first place,
overtaking both long-time top spender Germany (US$ 84 billion)
and second largest spender United States (US$ 83 billion),
tourism in 2012, up 37% on 2011. Boosted by rising disposable
incomes, a relaxation of restrictions on foreign travel and an
appreciating currency, Chinese tourism spending has increased
almost eightfold in 12 years, up from US$ 13 billion in 2000.
In 2005 China ranked seventh in international tourism expenditure,
and has since overtaken Italy, Japan, France and the United
Kingdom. With the 2012 surge, China leaped to first place,
overtaking both long-time top spender Germany (US$ 84 billion)
and second largest spender United States (US$ 83 billion),
MALAYSIA -
According to the WTO’s highlights for 2012 released last month, Malaysia’s tourist arrivals improved marginally to 25 million from 24.7 million the year before, but was not enough to stop Russia from taking the ninth spot with 25.7 million visitors.
France retained its crown as the world’s number one tourist destination, with a total of 83 million arrivals recorded in 2012, or 1.8 million more than the year before.
While Malaysia may not have the most number of arrivals, its visitors were more than happy to spend during their time in the country, using up a total of US$20.25 billion (RM66 billion) or an average of US$808 for each tourist.
In contrast, tourists in France only cracked opened their wallets sufficiently to spend a total of US$645.8 per visitor.
The United State, second for arrivals, earned the most from visitors, with over US$126 billion in tourism receipts, while gaming haven Macau recorded the highest income per visitor, with tourists to the former Portuguese colony spending over US$3,000 each.
FOR THE FULL UNWTO TOURISM HIGHLIGHT REPORT 2013 -http://mkt.unwto.org/en/publication/unwto-tourism-highlights-2013-edition
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FOR THE FULL UNWTO TOURISM HIGHLIGHT REPORT 2013 -http://mkt.unwto.org/en/publication/unwto-tourism-highlights-2013-edition
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Source - The Malay Mail Online, Wikipedia.
