Asian Countries Lead Tourism Boom of the 2010s

In 2019, 38 of around 200 countries and regions analyzed by UN Tourism had recorded more than ten million tourist arrivals, showing that only a few places in the world have become popular tourist destinations. Of these 38, nine have exhibited exceptional growth compared to 2010 and at least doubled the amount of tourist arrivals. Asia in particular has become a tourist hotspot in the past decade.

As the Statista chart based on UN Tourism data and Statista calculations shows, seven of the ten areas with the highest percentage growth in arrivals between 2010 and 2019 are situated on the Asian continent. Chief among them are Japan (270 percent increase compared to 2010), Vietnam (261 percent) and India (210 percent). Popular European destinations like Portugal and Greece also made the list, while the only Latin American country showing a significant increase in visitor numbers is Mexico with 93 percent.

Comparing the figures for 2022 with those of 2010 shows that many countries haven't fully bounced back from the covid-induced slump of 2020 and 2021. Taiwan, for example, showed a decrease in visitor numbers by 84 percent when comparing 2022 to 2010. This might also be related to growing tensions between China and the island nation which is seen as a sovereign state by some and a Chinese province by others. South Korea (64 percent) and Japan (56 percent) also saw decreases in tourist arrivals compared to 2010. In absolute terms, Thailand ranked first out of the ten countries visualized in 2019 with 24 million tourist arrivals, followed by Japan with 23 million and Mexico with 22 million.

While tourism can be an important source of income for many countries, with the World Travel & Tourism Council estimating a contribution of nine percent to the total global GDP in 2023, many popular holiday destinations are facing the danger of overtourism. Arrivals of masses of tourists can pressure ecosystems, infrastructure and housing in the regions and cities affected. In Europe, cities like Amsterdam and Venice have recently taken measures to curb the unrestricted flow of tourists like banning cannabis consumption in the former's red light district and requiring fees for day-trippers to the latter. Specific areas in Thailand, for example, the islands of Ko Phi Phi Leh and Ko Tao, as well as Indonesia's Bali have also suffered from an increased influx of foreign tourists, even though tourism's contribution to the GDP of both countries stood at 18 percent and five percent, respectively, in 2019.