Top 10 Travel Destinations

[wanderer]

Are you curious about what are the Top 10 travel destinations? Of course, this could be a subjective list...and I'd love to hear your favorites. But if you go in terms of visitors and tourism revenue, you get a fascinating list.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization counted nearly 100 million tourist visits in 2010.

Here's their list:

France 76.80 million
United States 59.75 million
China 55.67 million
Spain 52.68 million
Italy 43.63 million
United Kingdom 28.13 million
Turkey 27.00 million
Germany 26.88 million
Malaysia 24.58 million
Mexico 22.40 million

[bestpuncher]

Wow! does France really get that many visitors? Don't get me wrong, I love the country, but when you compare it to the size of the United states and even China, they're tiny! I would've thought that the UK would get more visitors than ~28M, but then again places like France and Spain have beautiful coast lines ideal for beach vacations.

Originally Posted by wanderer

Are you curious about what are the Top 10 travel destinations? Of course, this could be a subjective list...and I'd love to hear your favorites. But if you go in terms of visitors and tourism revenue, you get a fascinating list.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization counted nearly 100 million tourist visits in 2010.

Here's their list:

France 76.80 million
United States 59.75 million
China 55.67 million
Spain 52.68 million
Italy 43.63 million
United Kingdom 28.13 million
Turkey 27.00 million
Germany 26.88 million
Malaysia 24.58 million
Mexico 22.40 million

[AliCat]

Definitely a subjective thing, but it's always really fun to hear about other travelers' favorite places. I'm partial to Ireland (particularly southern Ireland, as I spent some time in Cork during college), Scotland, London, and Bavaria, as well as the Central California coast & wine country, particularly around Paso Robles. I also took my first trip to Hawaii last year and had a wonderful time, so Maui is on the list too. Wish I were heading off to one of those places again soon!

[wanderer]

It is very subjective, so that's why I went with the numbers. I was floored that France topped the list, but I know a lot of people go.

AliCat, I wouldn't mind going to any of those places soon! :)

[queengurads]

I don't get how france keeps making the number 1 spot year after year especially in this economy( uhmm, I smell some fishy)..anyhow, France is beautiful indeed, but during these hard economic times western Europe isn't really the place imo.

If you're tight on budget I suggest going to a beautiful gem called Nicaragua. Check out the Spanish colonial cities, and beaches. Granada, a gorgeous colonial city is the tourism hub and is the just a gorgeous as Paris. A must see for all!

[wanderer]

I'm wondering exactly what into the math for the UN. Did they count people who go on weekend vacations or just people who go on formal vacations? I'm not sure, but it's interesting.

Nicaragua is pretty great...some friends of mine visited in college and they still talk about it years later.

And I thought Paris smelled terrible! It really ruined it for me.

[racezJona]

Here it's my two cents on France vs USA...I think the reason why France is the most popular tourist destination could do with the fact that France is in Europe and is easily traveld to as opposed to the #2 country the US where only Canada and Mexico can easily get here without flying.

[HarryHy]

These are some other best places of vacation spending Doha, Qatar, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Stockholm, Sweden, Atlanta, Georgia, Kent Coast, England, Hokkaido, Japan.

[wanderer]

This is a great list, HarryHy. I love that it has some non-traditional favorites. There's a lot to discover out there beyond the obvious.

[melliset]

"In no particular order, below listed are top ten travel destinations: France
New York
Italy
Rome
Miami
Orlando
England
Florida
California
Scotland
"