As tourism returns from pandemic lows, these countries welcomed the most visitors last year, according to the UN.
Two years after the COVID-19 epidemic essentially stopped all foreign travel, the tourism industry is rebounding as summer approaches in the northern hemisphere.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization said in June that the first quarter of 2022 saw an increase in foreign tourism of about 200 percent year over year.
Although a number of pertinent figures have not yet reached levels seen in 2019, a slow recovery is expected to last the entire year.
Nearly 50% of the experts surveyed by the organisation think that by 2023,
international travel will have returned to its pre-pandemic levels, while 44% think it would take until 2024 or later.
This is especially good news for countries whose travel and tourism industries are their primary sources of economic growth.
These countries were Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, and St. Lucia, according to the 2021 gross domestic product statistics published by the World Travel & Tourism Council in June.
The countries with the highest tourist numbers, however, might not necessarily be those whose economies depend most heavily on tourism.
According to the United Nations, the most latest data on inbound tourism indicators, including foreign visitor arrivals, is from 2021.
The statistics show that more has to be done to restore the industry: The most visited country has almost 32 million foreign tourists in 2021.
France, which had 90 million inhabitants before the pandemic, was the top-ranked country in 2019.
The countries with the largest influx of foreign travellers in 2021 are mentioned by the U.N. For each,
additional tourism-related information is provided, such as the WTTC's GDP contribution percentages.