35 Best Destinations in the World for Cultural Tourism

Published on May 12, 2023 at 7:31 am by Ramish Cheema in Business, Lists, News

In this piece, we will take a look at the 35 best destinations in the world for cultural tourism. For more cities, head on over to 5 Best Destinations in the World for Cultural Tourism.

One sector that has been hit hard over the past couple of years is the tourism industry. The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic sapped global travel and forced populations all over the world into lockdowns. Estimates from the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization (WTO) show that the virus almost decimated the global tourism industry. This is due to the fact that international travel shrank by 72% in 2020 leading to 1.1 billion fewer trips taken and setting back the industry three decades in terms of the number of travelers. The monetary impact of this disruption was perhaps as bad as it can get. Estimates from the UNWTO show that international tourist arrivals, export revenues from tourism, and tourism gross domestic product (TGDP) had stood at 1.5 billion visitors, $1.7 trillion, and $3.5 trillion in 2019, respectively. Then, as the virus spread and the industry collapsed, these metrics dropped to 406 million, $651 billion, and $1.7 trillion, respectively, in 2020.

However, by 2022 the situation had stabilized quite a bit. International tourism recovered to 65% of pre-pandemic levels, with the number of tourists sitting at 900 million and further expected to reach up to 95% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023. Regionally, Europe outpaced the broader market in terms of recovery as total arrivals stood at nearly 80% of 2019 and Western Europe recovered even faster at 87% and the Caribbean came in second place with the total number of visitors sitting at 84% of 2019 levels.

Even as the industry started to recover in 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine gave a second shock to the global economy last year. While the invasion did not stop global travel, it did cause historic inflation in nearly every country and ended up straining budgets that would otherwise have been reserved for luxury or recreational spending. Higher fuel prices reduced the distance that people would travel for their trips and preferred fewer international destinations as air fares surged. However, even though global air travel did not stop, countries closest to the conflict suffered the most. More data from the UNWTO reveals that flights to Moldova, Slovenia, Latvia, and Finland dropped by 69%, 42%, 38%, and 36%, respectively.

Building on this, several countries in the world have large portions of their GDP dependent on tourism. ReportLinker Research shares that Spain, Iceland, and the Philippines rely heavily on tourism as it accounted for 12.5%, 9.5%, and 9.3% of their GDP in 2020, respectively. Iceland was the fastest growing region with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.37% between 2015 and 2020. However, neither of these countries broke into the top five global destinations for cultural tourism. In fact, in 2021, Hungary ranked first in the number of global cultural attraction enterprises with 46,280 units, and the U.K. and Austria came in second and third places, respectively.

Additionally, tourism is divided into several categories, such as business tourism, adventure tourism, luxury travel, medical travel, and others. Each of these segments is worth billions of dollars. Starting from business tourism, research from Allied Markets Research believes that this subsegment was worth $696 billion in 2020 and will grow at a CAGR of 13.2% between then and 2028 to sit at $2 trillion by the end of the forecast period. Grand View Research takes a look at adventure tourism and outlines that the market was worth $282 billion in 2021 and will grow at a faster rate of 15.1% to be worth $1 trillion in 2030. Grand View Research also has estimates for the luxury travel industry, sharing that it was the most valuable sector out of the ones discussed so far and was worth $1.28 trillion in 2022. This segment is expected to post a growth rate of 7.6% and be worth $2.32 trillion in 2030. Finally, Precedence Research analyzes the medical tourism segment to find out that it generated $115.6 billion in revenue in 2022 and will grow by 11.59% for a final value of $346 billion by 2032.

To take a look at how the industry is doing right now, let’s see what executives of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) said during the firm’s latest earnings call:

The international mix of our total room nights in Q1 was about 53% which was the highest quarterly mix since 2019 but still a couple of percentage points below Q1 2019. Our cancellation rates in the first quarter were below Q1 2022 and Q1 2019. For our alternative accommodations of Booking.com, our Q1 room night growth rate was about 45% year-on-year and the global mix alternative accommodation room nights was about 33% which was higher than about 31% in Q1 2022. We are pleased with the progress we made in North America alternative accommodations where growth in the first quarter was much stronger than the global average. Q1 gross bookings increased 44% year-over-year or 52% on a constant currency basis. The 44% increase in gross bookings was 6 percentage points higher than the 38% room night increase due to 9% higher accommodation constant currency ADRs and also due to a couple of points from strong flight booking growth, partially offset by the 8 percentage points of negative impact from FX movements.

With these details in mind, let’s take a look at the best destinations in the world for cultural tourism.

Pixabay / Public Domain

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the world’s top cultural tourism destinations, we used the list of global heritage sites most visited by the members of the Word Heritage Site a private community of travelers dedicated to visiting the locations listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The number of visits of WHS travelers to the top sites related to cultural tourism is a great indicator to find the best destinations in the world for cultural tourism.

Best Destinations in the World for Cultural Tourism

35. Great Wall of China

Number of WHS Visitors: 550

The Great Wall of China is one of the most famous historic and cultural sites in the world and a rare man made structure visible from space.

34. City of Luxembourg

Number of WHS Visitors: 583

The City of Luxembourg is the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and a perfect place for cultural tourism as the entire city is a World Heritage Site.

33. Kraków

Number of WHS Visitors: 584

Kraków is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland. The Kraków Old Town has a history starting from the ninth century.

32. Museumsinsel (Museum Island)

Number of WHS Visitors: 591

Museum Island is a German town located in Berlin. It is one of the most visited destinations in Berlin.

31. Naples

Number of WHS Visitors: 499

Naples is one of the largest cities in Italy and has countless historical buildings that have stood for thousands of years.

30. City of Bath

Number of WHS Visitors: 499

The City of Bath is a British city that has stood since the time of the Romans.

29. Seville

Number of WHS Visitors: 600

Seville is a Spanish city and has three historic sites that are linked to Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America.

28. Granada

Number of WHS Visitors: 606

Granada is a Spanish city with cultural sites documenting the rise of modern day religions.

27. Belem

Number of WHS Visitors: 606

Belem is a Portuguese city that once stood at the heart of the Portuguese Empire.

26. Grand Canyon

Number of WHS Visitors: 609

The Grand Canyon is located in America and is central to Native American culture in the U.S.

25. Stonehenge

Number of WHS Visitors: 619

Stonehenge is one of the oldest sites on our list, built thousands of years back.

24. Pompeii

Number of WHS Visitors: 636

Pompeii provides one of the best glimpses into daily Roman lives, as the city was frozen in time due to a volcanic eruption.

23. Salzburg

Number of WHS Visitors: 654

Salzburg is central to European culture as it is full of cathedrals and fortresses.

22. Cologne Cathedral

Number of WHS Visitors: 688

The Cologne Cathedral took over six centuries to build and is a work of Gothic architecture.

21. Istanbul

Number of WHS Visitors: 691

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and full of museums and other places.

20. Bruges

Number of WHS Visitors: 700

Bruges is a Belgian city with one of the biggest belfries in the world.

19. Schönbrunn

Number of WHS Visitors: 704

Schönbrunn is located in Vienna and was home to one of Europe’s most consequential political dynasties.

18. Edinburgh

Number of WHS Visitors: 708

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, providing it with a unique taste of Scottish history.

17. Piazza dei Miracoli

Number of WHS Visitors: 710

Piazza dei Miracoli is a historic cathedral square in the Italian city of Pisa.

16. Acropolis

Number of WHS Visitors: 722

Acropolis is a citadel in Athens – the city at the root of modern day civilization.

15. Works of Antoni Gaudí

Number of WHS Visitors: 775

The works of Antoni Gaudi are mostly located in Barcelona and sit at the heart of Spanish culture.

14. Versailles

Number of WHS Visitors: 780

Versailles is one of the most historic cities in the world, which was once the heart of the French monarchy.

13. Budapest

Number of WHS Visitors: 797

Budapest is a city in Hungary.

12. Grand Place, Brussels

Number of WHS Visitors: 805

The Grand Palace of Brussels is the central square of Brussels, Belgium, and marks the country’s journey through history.

11. Statue of Liberty

Number of WHS Visitors: 822

The Statue of Liberty sits right at the heart of American history and freedom from the British.

10. Prague

Number of WHS Visitors: 849

Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and an important reminder of the perils of war.

9. Florence

Number of WHS Visitors: 885

Florence is an Italian city known for its artistic history.

8. Venice and its Lagoon

Number of WHS Visitors: 886

The Venetian Lagoon is made of hundreds of canals and bridges and is a landmark for European trade.

7. Vatican City

Number of WHS Visitors: 888

The Vatican is the heart of Catholic Christianity and has stood for centuries.

6. Vienna

Number of WHS Visitors: 900

Vienna is Austria’s largest city and the origin point of classical music and psychoanalysis.

Click to continue reading and see 5 Best Destinations in the World for Cultural Tourism.

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