areppim scatter chart and statistics of the world top 20 tourism destinations and their corresponding tourism receipts. France keeps its irresistible appeal as a tourist destination and places itself at the top with a hefty 79.5 million tourist arrivals (ITA - international tourist arrivals) in 2011. At such a high ITA level — almost 3.5 times the median of the other 20 top destinations. The other top 5 destinations are, in descending order, the United States, China, Spain, Italy and Turkey. In terms of receipts generated by international tourists (ITR - international tourism receipts), the hierarchy is not really upset, and only suffers some reshuffling. We find at the top 5 places those countries which were also the top destinations, just with a change of chairs. The United States is now first with a revenue of US$ 116.3 billion, followed by Spain with 59.9 billion, France, China and Italy.

France keeps its irresistible appeal as a tourist destination and places itself at the top with a hefty 79.5 million tourist arrivals (ITA - international tourist arrivals) in 2011. At such a high ITA level — almost 3.5 times the median of the other 20 top destinations —, it does not surprise that it did not grow much between 2009 and 2011, only a modest 1.8%, half of the median, and far below the sky-high growth rates of new destinations such as Thailand, Hong Kong and Macao. The other top 5 destinations are, in descending order, the United States, China, Spain, Italy and Turkey. The latter three countries are the proof that the 3-S (sea, sand and sun) still attract the crowds.

In terms of receipts generated by international tourists (ITR - international tourism receipts), the hierarchy is not really upset, and only suffers some reshuffling. We find at the top 5 places those countries which were also the top destinations, just with a change of chairs. The United States is now first with a revenue of US$ 116.3 billion, followed by Spain with 59.9 billion, France, China and Italy.

While tourism specialists, policy makers and promoters polish their sales pitch to try and hook the international tourist with "cultural", "ecological", "heritage", "educational" and other suggestive tourism concepts, the real winners do not have to tag themselves with teasing attributes to feed the swelling tide of incoming deep-pocket tourists willing to spend their money. Thailand has seen an increase of arrivals of 16.2% per year, and a receipts growth of 27.9% per year since 2009. Hong Kong inbound tourism grew at the corresponding rates of 14.8% and 29.9%, and Macao 11.5% and about 50%. If we relate receipts to the number of tourists, the performance shines even brighter. The ratio for the the top 20 averaged a modest 3.2% (median 2.5%) growth rate — even the 3-S destinations dragged at snail's speed. Meanwhile, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macao grew 5 times faster. The hint could not be clearer. If what matters is reward, the winning ticket is to focus on becoming a sex and gambling provider.

 

World Top 20 Tourism Destinations & Corresponding Revenue

Destination

2009

2010

2011

Average annual change rate (11/09)

ITA

ITR

Receipts per tourist

ITA

ITR

Receipts per tourist

ITA

ITR

Receipts per tourist

ITA

ITR

Receipts
per
tourist

(thousand)($US million)($US)(thousand)($US million)($US)(thousand)($US million)($US)
Austria21,35519,38290822,00418,59684523,01219,8608633.8%1.2%-2.5%
Canada15,73713,73387316,09715,71197615,97616,9361,0600.8%11.1%10.2%
China50,87539,67578055,66445,81482357,58148,4648426.4%10.5%3.9%
France76,76449,52864577,14846,56060479,50053,8456771.8%4.3%2.5%
Germany24,22334,6501,43026,87534,6751,29028,35238,8421,3708.2%5.9%-2.1%
Greece14,91514,50697315,00712,74284916,42714,6238904.9%0.4%-4.3%
Hong Kong (China)16,92616,40896920,08522,2001,10522,31627,6861,24114.8%29.9%13.1%
Italy43,23940,24993143,62638,78688946,11942,9999323.3%3.4%0.1%
Macao (China)10,40218,1421,74411,92627,7902,33012,925n/a n/a11.5%n/an/a
Malaysia23,64615,77266724,57718,27674424,71418,2597392.2%7.6%5.2%
Mexico22,34611,51351523,29011,99251523,40311,8695072.3%1.5%-0.8%
Netherlands9,92112,3681,24710,88312,8831,18411,30014,4451,2786.7%8.1%1.3%
Poland11,8909,01175812,4709,52676413,35010,6878016.0%8.9%2.8%
Russian Federation19,4209,36648220,2718,83043622,68611,3985028.1%10.3%2.1%
Spain52,17853,1771,01952,67752,52599756,69459,8921,0564.2%6.1%1.8%
Thailand14,15016,0561,13515,93620,1151,26219,09826,2561,37516.2%27.9%10.1%
Turkey25,50621,25083327,00020,80777129,34323,0207857.3%4.1%-3.0%
Ukraine20,7983,57617221,2033,78817921,4154,2942011.5%9.6%8.0%
United Kingdom28,19930,1491,06928,29932,4011,14529,19235,9281,2311.7%9.2%7.3%
United States54,95894,1911,71459,796103,5051,73162,325116,2791,8666.5%11.1%4.3%
Average27,87226,13594329,24227,87697230,78631,3469595.9%9.0%3.2%
Median21,85117,27591922,64720,46186923,20823,0208905.5%8.1%2.5%

[]

 

Sources: UNWTO : World Tourism Barometer, Tourism Highlights.

 

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