Published on •Updated
The global tourism map is shifting – and some countries are emerging as clear winners.
New data has revealed that Saudi Arabia has seen the biggest surge in international arrivals since 2019, with Morocco, Egypt and Brazil also recording major gains as travellers look beyond traditional holiday hotspots.
Europe is seeing its own tourism boom, with Norway, Portugal, Spain and France among the countries welcoming more visitors than before the pandemic.
Visual Capitalist, a data visualisation platform, cited statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to reveal the largest changes in visitor numbers from 2019 to 2025, laying bare the difference over the Covid-19 pandemic and post-pandemic years.
Three countries from Europe made the top 10, but it was countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South America which have seen the most gains.
Saudi Arabia, which has invested hugely into its tourism sector, saw visitor numbers grow 67% in the six-year period, while Morocco and Egypt were up 53% and 47% respectively.
In South America, Brazil and Colombia saw almost equal growth, with 46% and 45%.
Meanwhile, Japan is the only Asian nation in the top 10, with 34%, and is closely followed by Chile, which gained 33%.
The top 10 is rounded out by European countries – Norway, Serbia and Denmark saw growth of 28%, 27% and 22% respectively.
Europe has seen post-pandemic recovery
The pandemic hit global tourism particularly hard, but Europe has managed to bounce back to 2019 levels – for the most part.
The data revealed that most destinations on the continent returned to or exceeded their pre-pandemic tourism levels. However, these gains were typically lower than those recorded in the likes of the Middle East and North Africa.
As well as Norway, Serbia and Denmark – all in the top 10 – Portugal, Spain and France all recorded notable increases in international arrivals from 2019 to 2025.
On the other hand, Germany saw a drop of 6% and Italy saw 5% fewer tourists.
Ireland saw a big decrease, with a 32% drop-off compared to 2019 levels, meaning it lost the second highest amount of tourists worldwide after Israel.
Some nations see significant drops in tourism
Unsurprisingly, ongoing conflict tends to weigh heavily on tourism.
Israel has experienced that firsthand, with international tourist arrivals falling 71% amid the conflict in Gaza – the sharpest decline by far in the dataset.
The United States also recorded a 14% decline in international arrivals compared with 2019, while Canada’s tourism arrivals were also down 11%.
South of the border, Argentina and Peru saw their numbers dwindle to 23% and 22% respectively.
A number of destinations in the Asia-Pacific region remained below their pre-pandemic totals, too.
Thailand was hit the hardest, with a 17% drop, while New Zealand (-9%), Australia (-6%), and Indonesia (-4%) saw slower recoveries than other nations, due to their extended border closures during the pandemic era.
Which countries gained the most tourists?
The top 10 countries which gained most tourists from 2019-2025, according to the Visual Capitalist/OECD data:
- 1. Saudi Arabia +67%
- 2. Morocco +53%
- 3. Egypt +47%
- 4. Brazil +46%
- 5. Colombia +45%
- 6. Japan +34%
- 7. Chile +33%
- 8. Norway +28%
- 9. Serbia +27%
- 10. Denmark +22%