Where do all the tourists flock? The most popular country to visit is still France.
It was the world’s only nation to have more than 80 million visitors last year as a total of 84.7 million people from abroad went to France in 2013.
The figures were released by the “Direction Generale de la Compétitivité de l'industrie et des services” and turned over to the World Tourism Organisation.
France enjoyed a 2% increase in tourist numbers last year.
In second place was the United States which had 69.8 million visitors.
Spain regained its place as number three, boasting 60.7 million.
China was the only nation in the top ten which saw a decrease in foreign tourist numbers, leaving it with 55.7 million visits.
The rest in the top ten are Italy (47.7 million), Turkey (37.8 million), Germany (31.5 million), UK (31.2 million), Russia (28.4 million) and Thailand (26.5 million).
Portugal, not in the top ten, was not mentioned.
The Chinese were shown, not for the first time, to be the highest spending tourists. They spent a record US $129 billion in 2012, up by a dramatic ten times since 2000. They were enabled by rising disposable incomes, fewer restrictions on foreign travel, and an appreciating currency.
They were followed by people from the US and Germany for spending the most while on foreign holidays.
