The future of travel
TOP 10 MOST POPULAR DESTINATIONS 1995 (INTERNATIONAL VISITS)
France United States Spain Italy United Kingdom Mexico China
Poland Austria Canada
China is a fast-expanding inbound and outbound travel market
TOP 10 MOST POPULAR DESTINATIONS 2025 (INTERNATIONAL VISITS)
largest outbound leisure travel market by spending over the past decade, overtaking long-established leaders such as the United States and Germany. This measure includes travel from mainland China to Hong Kong and Macau. In contrast, Japan has declined in relative importance, having been among the top five outbound travel markets throughout the 1990s and much of the 2000s, in line with weaker income growth and reduced gains in affordability. Other markets have also shifted in prominence. Australia became a more significant source market during the 2010s, supported by improvements in travel affordability as the Australian dollar strengthened. Russia also rose in importance during the last decade but has since seen a sharp decline following the imposition of travel bans by many countries. A slightly different picture emerges when outbound travel is measured by traveller volumes rather than spending. On a volume basis, the United States and Germany remain the largest outbound travel markets. While growth from China has been substantial, it remains smaller than the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom in terms of total outbound trips. Nevertheless, China has overtaken several established European markets, including France, the Netherlands, and Italy, in outbound travel volumes.
America. While these destinations remain highly popular and have seen travel volumes roughly double over the past three decades, their share of global arrivals is projected to fall to around 40%, as other regions grow more rapidly. Similarly, the 10 largest destinations accounted for more than half of all international arrivals in 1995 but now capture only around one-third. Asia Pacific has been a major beneficiary of this rebalancing. The region’s share of global travel has increased from around 15% to approximately 25%, fuelled largely by intra-regional demand. Japan stands out as a destination success story, rising from the 35th largest global destination to the eighth largest today, while Thailand and China have also seen substantial gains. Although still a smaller region in absolute terms, the Middle East has experienced particularly rapid growth, with its share of global travel trebling over the past 30 years. This reflects both the rising importance of new source markets and substantial destination investment. Improvements in infrastructure and capacity have transformed destinations such as Dubai, enabling them to outpace growth in most other major countries Outbound trends China has emerged as the world’s
France Spain United States China Italy
Turkey Mexico Japan Greece United Kingdom
SPEND VS VOLUME: A DIFFERENT PICTURE
China leads outbound spend , reflecting longer-haul and higher-value trips The US and Germany still lead outbound volumes China has surpassed several major European markets in total trips, but has not yet reached the scale of the largest mature markets
Source: Tourism Economics
All statistics quoted are sourced from Tourism Economics unless otherwise stated.
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