Countries with the lowest and highest number of tourists per capita: Most 'touristy' countries

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This was published 7 years ago

Countries with the lowest and highest number of tourists per capita: Most 'touristy' countries

By Gavin Haines
Want a beach free of tourists? Try Bangladesh. Pictured: The fishing port and sea resort of Cox's Bazar.

Want a beach free of tourists? Try Bangladesh. Pictured: The fishing port and sea resort of Cox's Bazar.Credit: Alamy

If you'd prefer not to be rubbing shoulders with other tourists on holiday, head to Bangladesh.

The South Asian nation is the world's least 'touristy' destination, according to data obtained by the World Bank.

That data was analysed by Priceonomics, which compared the number of tourists arriving in each country with the size of its population.

Based on that model, Guinea, Moldova, India and Sierra Leone completed its top five least touristy nations.

So where are you most likely to bump into other tourists? Perhaps Great Britain, France or Thailand? Errr, no. It's Andorra. This diminutive destination may not be on everyone's bucket list, but Priceonomics reckons it has the highest number of tourists per locals (32.4), making it the world's most touristy country.

The rest of the top five was just as surprising, comprising Aruba, Monaco, Bahrain and Palau.

Priceonomics also looked at the countries experiencing the biggest uplift in tourism and found that Georgia (+17.1 per cent), Bhutan (+12.3 per cent) and Congo (+9.1 per cent) had the largest increases in tourists between 2004 and 2014.

However, the data does have its shortcomings: not only does the World Bank not have records for all countries (38 nations, largely in conflict zones, are not represented), but its research is based on the number of arrivals to a country, meaning repeat visitors may have been counted multiple times.

With its excellent trekking, fine beaches and tiger safaris, Bangladesh has been previously touted as the next big thing. However, ongoing security fears, flooding and extreme poverty have kept all but the most intrepid travellers away.

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The least touristy countries

(Locals per tourists)

  1. Bangladesh - 1273
  2. Guinea - 372
  3. Moldova - 323
  4. India - 169
  5. Sierra Leone - 144
  6. Niger - 142
  7. Ethiopia - 126
  8. Chad - 111
  9. Madagascar - 106
  10. Mali - 102
  11. Burkina Faso - 92
  12. Belarus - 69
  13. Sudan - 58
  14. Cote d'Ivoire - 47
  15. Tanzania - 47
  16. Benin - 44
  17. Papua New Guinea - 41

The most touristy countries

(Number of tourists per local)

  1. Andorra - 32.4
  2. Aruba - 10.4
  3. Monaco - 8.7
  4. Bahrain - 7.7
  5. Palau - 6.7
  6. Malta - 4.0
  7. Hong Kong - 3.8
  8. The Bahamas - 3.7
  9. Bermuda - 3.4
  10. Iceland - 3.1
  11. Maldives - 3.0
  12. Austria - 3.0
  13. Curacao - 2.9
  14. Croatia - 2.7
  15. Antigua & Barbuda - 2.7
  16. Seychelles - 2.6
  17. San Marino - 2.3

See also: The new bucket list: The 10 hottest places in the world to visit right now

See also: The most surprising countries Australians can visit without a visa

The Telegraph, London

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