It’s almost time to start planning your 2023 travel, and a good place to start might be with the most visited countries of 2022.
Flight ticket database company, ForwardKeys, published its annual report ranking the top countries based on the amount that tourism has increased since the travel industry was impacted in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report found that a majority of the top 20 countries were mainly in Central America and the Caribbean.
According to ForwardKeys, this stat reflects the fact that many tourism-dependent countries in those regions imposed less severe COVID-19 travel restrictions and were able to maintain a steady flow of visitors even throughout the pandemic.
No. 1 most visited country in 2022: Dominican Republic
Between January 1 and October 18, 2022, the Dominican Republic welcomed 5% more visitors than it did during the same time in 2019. It was the most visited destination in the Caribbean, according to data from the World Tourism Organization.
The Dominican Republic is most known for its year-round golf courses, and some of the best luxury all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean are in Punta Cana and La Romana.
The top 10 most visited countries in 2022
- Dominican Republic
- Turkey
- Costa Rica
- Mexico
- Jamaica
- Pakistan
- Bangladesh
- Greece
- Egypt
- Portugal
Turkey ranked second on the list. The country is home to Antalya, the largest city on the Turkish Riviera.
The Turkish city welcomed 66% more visitors than it did during the same period in 2019, but according to the Forward Keys report, the country’s tourism levels stayed the same in 2022 as in 2019.
Costa Rica is third on the list, and like Turkey, the Central American country saw the same level of tourism in 2019 as it did in 2022. Costa Rica is most known for its amazing surfing, volcanoes, and biodiversity.
According to the U.S. News & World Report, the country ranked in fourth place for the best cheap vacations in Central and South America.
Costa Rica also lends itself to a more relaxed vacation destination. The country often uses the phrase “pura vida” (pure life in English), which encompasses the country’s philosophy about living a more relaxed way of life.
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