MEXICO’S RISE TO SIXTH MOST VISITED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD CONFIRMED BY UNWTO

 The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) published the 2017 ranking on the most visited countries in the world and the countries with most international receipts.

  Three months prior to the end of Mexico’s current administration, the UNWTO, announced on its website that Mexico climbed two places, from 8th, welcoming 35.1 million international visitors in 2016, to 6th, with 39.3 million in 2017.

 

 

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, August 27, 2017. – The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) released its ‘UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2018 Edition’, which includes the 2017 global ranking. The document confirms that Mexico rose to sixth place in the ranking of most visited countries after welcoming 39.3 million visitors in 2017.

 

 Three months prior to the end of Mexico’s current administration, the UNWTO, announced on its website that Mexico climbed two places, from 8th, welcoming 35.1 million international visitors in 2016, to 6th, with 39.3 million in 2017, representing a 12% increase over the previous year.

 

 

The document, ‘UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2018 Edition’, states that the most visited country in the world, based on international tourist arrivals, is France with 86.9 million followed by Spain with 81.8 million. The U.S. placed third with 75.9 million, while China came in fourth with 60.7 million and Italy in fifth with 58.3 million. As previously mentioned, Mexico, came in sixth with 39.3 million international tourists, followed by the U.K. with 37.7 million, Turkey with 37.6 million, Germany with 37.5 million and closing out the Top 10 is Thailand with 35.4 million international tourists.

 

The UNWTO also shared that the U.S. retained its top position in the world ranking based on International Tourism Receipts, with US$210.7 billion, followed by Spain with US$68 billion and France with US$60.7 billion. Once more, Thailand places fourth with US$57.5 billion, followed by the U.K. in fifth with US$51.2 billion, Italy in sixth with US$44.2 billion, and Australia in seventh place with US$41.7 billion. Germany remains in eight place with US$39.8 billion, followed by Macao (China) with US$35.6 billion and Japan with US$34.1 billion.

 

According to the international organization, these impressive results in 2017 were driven by the sustained demand for travel to countries in all regions of the world, and by the strong recovery experienced by the destinations that have faced security challenges in recent years.

 

The UNWTO emphasized that the increase in arrivals resulted in a significant increase in total exports from international tourism, estimated at US$1.6 trillion in 2017, and thus ensuring that international tourism is the third most important export category in the world.

 

 

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