This visualization shows trends in worldwide tourism, as measure by inbound
arrivals and outbound departures for tourism purposes.
Scroll down to learn more about how tourism has changed over the last 25 years.
In 1995, worldwide tourism was centralized in Europe.
Over the past 25 years, we've seen growth in China, Southeast Asia, and Latin
America.
Pause to watch the bubbles change size on the map, representing these increases
in international tourist visitors in each location as time goes by.
Out of the top 20 tourist destinations, there has been a rapid and steady increase,
with notable dips in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks and in the 2008 financial crisis.
Why has international tourism increased so rapidly?
In South Korea, the government has made a concerted effort to export its culture
and attract tourists. Inbound tourism grew 450% from 1995 to 2018.
Scroll down for more detailed information on Korea's journey.
We can see notable impacts of world events and government initiatives in Korea's
inbound tourist arrivals. Explore the key events and government initiatives on
the chart on the right; hover over any point to see the number of international visitors
that year, along with notable events.
Click on the red dots to walk through the full story of
Korea's rise as a prime tourist destination, and the events and government
policies that underlie the data.
The United States of America is another top travel destination where tourism has
almost doubled since 1996, to roughly 80 million visitors in 2018.
The tourism pattern in USA over the past 25 years also tells a compelling story about the
impact government investments and regulations can have on a country's tourism industry.
Click once on a red dot to show the detailed story.
Now that we've explore a couple of countries in detail, explore other countries by
clicking any country highlighted in blue to see the tourism changes from 1996 to 2018.