# Which country gets the biggest income from tourism. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302 "2004-07-15T18:55:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/1 "2004-07-15T18:55:16Z")
Related to the thread about which US state gets the least income from tourism, which country gets the most? I know tourism is one of NZ’s biggest industries but what about Britain, Australia, America etc. Perhaps per head of capiata is fairest. Maybe somewhere like the Maldives, Samoa or Fiji wins. ---
**Author:** ![Debs181](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Debs181](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debs181)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/2 "2016-10-29T20:46:58Z")
A: The World Tourism Association is a U.N. agency that promotes tourism ([http://www2.unwto.org/](http://www2.unwto.org/)). They issue an annual report and the latest report is from 2015. The report has a “By the Numbers” section which breaks down tourist arrivals by continent on page 15 ([http://cf.cdn.unwto.org/sites/all/files/pdf/annual\_report\_2015\_lr.pdf](http://cf.cdn.unwto.org/sites/all/files/pdf/annual_report_2015_lr.pdf)). According to this, Europe accounted for 51% of the tourism "market ", with 609M arrivals. Page 17 of the report includes sources used for the section; there is a Compendium of Tourism Statistics which compiles the information from individual countries. The latest available is the 2016 Compendium which has data from 2010-2014 on inbound and outbound tourism for individual countries. Unfortunately, the Compendium is available for purchase only. I checked WorldCat to see if other editions are readily available. The Hathi Trust lists the availability of various editions ([https://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/15666615.html](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/15666615.html)) The latest edition available for limited search only is from 2008, via the University of Minnesota libraries. Without access to the full Compendium, it’s hard to find figures on the tourism industry across multiple countries. Also, presumably the U.N. collects data only from member states (Quora has a thread on which countries/territories are not U.N. members at https://www.quora.com/United-Nations-What-countries-are-not-part-of-the-UN). However, I found figures on the countries mentioned below from: Population & GDP (Gross Domestic Product) Per Capita figures in U.S. dollars are taken from the World Factbook at [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/). The World Bank collects data on tourism receipts by country and this information is available at [http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.RCPT.CD](http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.RCPT.CD) (note: numbers are reported in millions of U.S. $) Australia Population: 22,992,654 GDP Per Capita: $47,600 Tourism Receipts 2014 in USD millions: $31,117 Fiji Population: 915,303 GDP Per Capita: $9,100 Tourism Receipts 2014 in USD millions: no data Maldives Population: 392,960 GDP Per Capita: $14,900 Tourism Receipts 2014 in USD millions: $2,645 New Zealand Population 4, 474,549 GDP Per capita 2015: $36,100 Tourism Receipts 2014 in USD millions: $8,400 Samoa Population: 198,926 GDP Per Capita: $5,200 Tourism Receipts 2014 in USD millions: $146 United Kingdom Population: 64, 430,428 GDP Per Capita: $41,500 Tourism Receipts 2014 in USD millions: $62,830 United States Population: 323,995,528 GDP Per Capita:$56,100 Tourism Receipts 2014 in USD millions: $220,757 ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/3 "2016-10-29T21:08:22Z")
> [@calm\_kiwi](#): > > Related to the thread about which US state gets the least income from tourism, which country gets the most? Do you only wish to count tourism income spent by foreigners? I’d guess that within the U.S., a larger portion of the tourism income is from citizens. I assume this is true in most countries, but would guess the fraction is larger in the US due to its size. I suspect there is quite a it less tourism in other large countries like Russia, China, and Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/4 "2016-10-29T21:20:17Z")
Note that this is a twelve-year-old thread and the OP hasn’t posted in a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/5 "2016-10-29T22:08:29Z")
How is “tourism” defined? Does “tourism” include Mexicans living in Juarez going to Walmart in El Paso? Does it include people in EU countries that commute across an international border everyday? ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/6 "2016-10-29T23:55:07Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/7 "2016-10-30T00:05:46Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > How is “tourism” defined? Does “tourism” include Mexicans living in Juarez going to Walmart in El Paso? Does it include people in EU countries that commute across an international border everyday? The WTA annual report linked by Debs181 seems to define tourists as overnight visitors (page 15). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/8 "2016-10-30T01:58:48Z")
My guess for the most tourists per capita would be Vatican City. But none would be overnight visitors. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/9 "2016-10-30T03:43:01Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The WTA annual report linked by Debs181 seems to define tourists as overnight visitors (page 15). So who counts them? Do hotels keep track of how many of their guess are foreign nationals? To whom do they report that? Do hotels keep track of how much people spend outside the hotel? The onlly waiy I can think of that reasonably accurate information could be obtained, is by credit card companies reporting how much money they charge a foreign exchange fee on. And I doubt they would reveal that. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/10 "2016-10-30T03:49:00Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/11 "2016-10-30T16:00:44Z")
[This table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings#International_tourism_receipts) shows Thailand as one of the biggest tourism countries. It would soar toward the top of the list if tourism receipts were shown as a percent of the economy. (But Macau would then be above Thailand !) [off-topic] Have many Americans postponed their Thailand holidays due to the sad death of our King? > [@jtur88](#): > > So who counts them? Do hotels keep track of how many of their guess are foreign nationals?.. > The onlly waiy I can think of that reasonably accurate information could be obtained, is by credit card companies reporting how much money they charge a foreign exchange fee on. And I doubt they would reveal that. Government monetary authorities have a pretty clear idea, I think, of foreign exchange transactions. They use other reports to distinguish tourism, import/export, and other transfers. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/12 "2016-10-31T04:36:17Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > [off-topic] Have many Americans postponed their Thailand holidays due to the sad death of our King? No, but I’ve grown a little concerned about my travel clothing. In late November, will a blue golf shirt and khakis mark me as an Ugly American? What if I wear a black ribbon? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/13 "2016-10-31T10:35:59Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > No, but I’ve grown a little concerned about my travel clothing. In late November, will a blue golf shirt and khakis mark me as an Ugly American? What if I wear a black ribbon? I think the black ribbon will suffice. I was in Bangkok last week and many (locals and tourists) didn’t even have that. BTW, white is considered a respectful mourning color as well as black. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-gets-the-biggest-income-from-tourism/255302/14 "2016-10-31T12:20:53Z")
Seychelles or Maldives I would think.