How Covid Changed the World's Top Tourist Destinations

The tourism industry is slowly recovering from the pandemic after having experienced its deepest shock in history, according to a newly published UN World Tourism Organization report.

Needless to say, a lot has changed in the industry since the pre-pandemic year of 2019, including which countries have been able to attract the most tourists. As the following chart shows, where France, Spain and the United States have managed to retain their places as the top three travel destinations worldwide, China and Thailand have disappeared from the roundup, so that all top ten ranks are now taken by countries in Europe and the Americas.

According to the report, reasons for the countries’ changes in performance include the varying impacts of the health crisis per country, the travel restrictions policies put in place there and the "inherent brand strength and resilience"' of each destination.