Country Tourism Quiz

Tourism here is measured in international arrivals per year, the standard UN Tourism statistic. France has long been the world's most-visited country with around 100 million annual arrivals — more tourists than residents. Spain is second, the United States third, and Italy and Türkiye round out the top five.

The undertourist countries

Tuvalu welcomes only a few thousand visitors a year — fewer than a single large cruise ship carries. Bhutan deliberately keeps numbers low with a daily sustainable development fee. Saudi Arabia only began issuing tourist visas in 2019 and has been one of the fastest-growing destinations since. The Caribbean punches far above its weight: tiny Aruba welcomes over a million overnight visitors a year — roughly ten for every resident.

Did you know?

• France is the world's most-visited country, drawing nearly 100 million international arrivals in a typical year.
• Tourism contributes more than 20% of GDP for several small island nations including the Maldives and Seychelles.
• Mecca receives over 20 million pilgrim visits a year — more religious visitors than any other city on Earth.
• Antarctica receives ~50,000 tourists annually despite having no permanent residents.
• Spain has more UNESCO World Heritage sites than any country except Italy and China.
• Bhutan caps tourist arrivals with a "high-value, low-impact" daily fee paid by every visitor.
• North Korea allows tourists but only via state-approved guided tours — independent travel is forbidden.
• Iceland's tourism boom was largely triggered by a 2010 volcanic eruption that disrupted European flights and put the country in headlines for weeks.
• Croatia's Adriatic coast attracts more than twice the country's population in visitors each year.
• Dubai's airport is consistently the busiest in the world for international passengers.
• Tourism in Egypt collapsed after the 2011 Arab Spring; the industry is still recovering more than a decade later.
• Macau receives roughly six times its own population in tourists each year, drawn by its casinos.
• New Zealand tripled tourism in the decade after launching the '100% Pure' marketing campaign in the early 2000s.
• Italy hosts the most UNESCO World Heritage sites in the world — over 60.
• Las Vegas alone draws more annual visitors than entire countries like Japan or South Korea.

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The most and least visited countries on Earth — France welcomes more tourists than it has residents, and Tuvalu gets about three thousand visitors a year — fewer than one large cruise ship carries.

Where the data comes from

Every figure in this category is drawn from UN Tourism arrivals, 2023. Data is refreshed quarterly; if a number looks wrong, tell us and we will check the source.