Countries with the highest outbound tourism expenditure worldwide 2019-2020

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted international tourism in 2020. That year, travel abroad was limited due to emergency measures adopted by countries worldwide to curb the number of infections. As a result of the travel restrictions, the international tourism expenditure worldwide dropped sharply in 2020 compared to the previous year. Overall, China reported the highest outbound spending globally, both after and prior to the pandemic. However, the outbound tourism expenditure in China declined from nearly 255 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 to around 130.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2020.

COVID-19 impact on inbound tourism

As countries worldwide adopted different measures and travel bans to limit the spread of the virus, many travelers had to cancel or reschedule their trips abroad in 2020. This caused the number of international tourist arrivals to fall by roughly 73 percent in 2020 over the previous year. With the decrease in inbound arrivals came a decline in revenue. For instance, inbound tourism spending in the United States, the country with the highest international tourism receipts worldwide, decreased by 117 billion U.S. dollars between 2019 and 2020.

Which region is the most popular for inbound tourism worldwide?

Both before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Europe was the global region recording the highest number of international tourist arrivals. The volume of inbound travelers in this area has increased steadily since 2010, peaking at 746 million in 2019. Due to the health crisis, the number of international travelers in Europe stood at approximately 236 million, the lowest figure reported since 2005.