African countries with the largest number of international tourist arrivals in 2018

The North-African nation of Morocco ranked first among the African countries with the most international tourist arrivals, accounting for 12.29 million arrivals in 2018. Following in second place was South Africa, which received around 10.29 million arrivals.  

 Morocco vs. South Africa: which is the top tourist spot? 

Despite having the most international visitors among African countries in 2017, Morocco ranked second in terms of international tourism receipts, which amounted to approximately seven and a half billion U.S. dollars. In this respect it was beaten by South Africa, which accounted for international tourist receipts of around 8.8 billion U.S. dollars. In terms of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) in 2017, which measures factors and policies that make a country eligible for investments in the travel and tourism sector, these two countries also held the top spots. South Africa received a TTCI score of 4.01 out of seven, which made it the leading African country according to the 2017 TTCI. Comparatively, Morocco came in second with a TTCI score of 3.81 in 2017.