According to a recent study by the World Economic Foundation, these 30 countries are the most approving of the tourism industry as well as the most welcoming to foreign visitors. The study ranks countries based on three major component rankings: Tourist Service Infrastructure, International Openness, and Prioritization of Travel & Tourism.
That means that this "welcomeness ranking" has more to say regarding government policies than how pleasant local residents are to foreign visitors. So really, it's a reflection of political and business leaders and not everyday people.
What that means is that, in general, these nation's governmental policies would rather you visit their country than stay at home. One important caveat is that countries weren't ranked at all if they didn't respond or provide adequate documentation of the survey. So that means that some truly welcoming places may have been left out...simply because they didn't respond in time or provide enough information to a third party. And they might not have done so because they were too busy making sure their tourists were having a good time! Who cares about a survey when you're addressing the concerns of real people?!
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Did you know...
- The largest pool in the world can be found at the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Chile. It has 66 million gallons (enough water to fill 100 Olympic-sized pools). It's 3,323 feet in length, over twice the length of the next biggest pool. At a cost of $3,000,000, that sounds like a pretty good deal.
- Minnesota might say that it's the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," but Canada has it beat. The country as a whole has over three million lakes. That means Canada has 60% of the world's total number of lakes within its borders. It must seem like paradise for people who like to fish or boat!
- There are over 61,000 people on a plane in the air over the U.S. at any given moment. That makes sense because the U.S. has one third of all the airports in the world. Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta is the busiest airport in the world with over 100 million total passengers every year since 2015.
- Even though it is spread across five time zones, the entire country of China is set to Beijing time. Having a single time zone in the United States would certainly make things easier. Currently, the USA is spread across six, but a single time zone would make things a little wonky in Alaska and Hawai'i.
- Jet lag is worse when you're traveling from west to east. That's because the changes in time zones become not only more physically apparent on your body, but they are also more culturally apparent. If restaurants close at 10pm on the East Coast, you'll just be getting hungry since it will feel like 7pm on your West Coast-adjusted body.