France and Spain Stand Alongside Major Global Destinations as Tourist Spending by Country Exposes the Biggest Visitor Wallets

Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Japan are drawing millions of international travellers, but visitor volume tells only part of the tourism story. In 2024, Spain generated US$106.5 billion in international tourism receipts, ahead of France at US$77.1 billion and Italy at US$58.7 billion. Japan recorded US$54.7 billion, while Greece generated about US$21.7 billion.

The sharper question concerns what travellers actually buy after arriving. Accommodation, food, shopping, transport and experiences absorb large portions of visitor budgets, but their weight differs dramatically. Japan offers an especially revealing example, with inbound visitors spending about ¥8.1 trillion in 2024, while Greece saw receipts rise only 4.8% despite a 12.8% rise in inbound traveller flows.

Visitor Numbers Hide The Bigger Spending Story

International arrivals remain the easiest way to measure tourism strength, yet arrivals cannot explain how much economic value visitors create. France welcomed about 102 million international tourists in 2024, the world’s highest total, while Spain received 93.8 million and Italy around 57.8 million. Japan welcomed 36.9 million and Greece roughly 36 million.

The receipts picture changes the order. Spain’s US$106.5 billion led this five-country group, followed by France, Italy and Japan. Greece remained far below the other four destinations despite receiving a visitor count broadly similar to Japan.

These figures expose the first major travel-economy divide. A larger visitor population does not automatically produce larger international tourism receipts. Receipts also reflect visitor length of stay, spending patterns, accommodation choices, currency effects, travel purpose and the range of products and services purchased.

The comparison also needs care. International tourism receipts measure spending by foreign visitors on goods and services during their trips. They are not identical to total tourism consumption, which includes domestic travellers and other tourism-related demand.

Spain Turns Visitor Volume Into Spending

Spain provides the strongest evidence of how scale can translate into substantial tourism revenue. Its National Statistics Institute recorded €126.282 billion in international tourist expenditure during 2024, an annual increase of 16.1%. That figure is considerably broader than simply counting hotel expenditure because EGATUR captures several spending components across international visitors.

The Spanish data become particularly useful because they separate international transport, accommodation, food and drinks, activities and other expenditure. In December 2024 alone, activities represented 23.8% of tourist expenditure, followed by international transport at 20.2%, accommodation at 17.0% and food and drinks at 16.9%.

The monthly breakdown should not be treated as a full-year spending structure. However, it shows something important for travellers and tourism businesses: paid activities can capture a larger slice of the visitor wallet than the traditional hotel-and-restaurant narrative suggests.

Spain’s annual average spending also points towards rising visitor value. In December, international tourists spent an average €1,441 per traveller and €159 per day. The annual expenditure total reached €126.282 billion, up sharply from €108.789 billion in 2023.

For travellers, this means Spain’s tourism proposition extends well beyond accommodation. Attractions, excursions, cultural activities and other paid experiences can materially shape the cost of a trip.

France Has The Volume Advantage

France presents the clearest contrast between visitor volume and visitor monetisation. Atout France reported 100 million international visitors and €71 billion in international receipts in 2024, with the year benefiting from the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games and the reopening of Notre-Dame.

The country’s tourism economy also has a substantial domestic foundation. Atout France estimates tourism at nearly 8% of French GDP, supporting more than two million direct and indirect jobs. Its 2024 review also identified continued growth in seasonal rentals alongside sustained demand for collective accommodation.

France therefore demonstrates why arrival totals should never become the sole measure of destination performance. Paris can channel visitor spending into hotels, restaurants, museums, attractions and luxury retail, while regional destinations distribute tourism expenditure across different accommodation and leisure ecosystems.

For visitors, the practical implication is equally important. A trip centred on Paris has a different spending profile from a multi-region French itinerary combining cities, wine areas, mountains or coastal destinations.

Italy Reveals The Shopping Economy

Italy offers one of the clearest examples of tourism money moving beyond rooms and restaurants. Its latest Tourism Satellite Account estimates €76.1 billion in inbound tourism spending in 2023, representing 37.5% of internal tourism consumption. Total internal tourism consumption reached €202.7 billion.

The most striking figure concerns retail. Shopping generated more than €38 billion in tourism consumption, equivalent to 19% of the entire tourism consumption basket. Accommodation accounted for 35%, food and beverages for 15%, transport and rental for 8%, travel agencies and related services for 8%, and other spending for 15%.

This is a crucial distinction. Tourism does not stop at the hotel checkout. Italian tourism expenditure reaches retailers, restaurants, transport operators, cultural businesses and other services.

Istat also estimates that tourism directly generated €106.8 billion of GDP in 2023, equivalent to 5% of national GDP. Including indirect effects, the figure rose to €206.4 billion, or 9.6% of GDP. Tourism industries accounted for more than four million jobs.

The methodology changed with the latest Tourism Satellite Account, so the 2023 estimates should not be compared mechanically with earlier editions. That caveat matters when assessing long-term trends.

Japan Shows The High-Value Visitor Effect

Japan produces perhaps the most revealing spending pattern in this comparison. International visitors generated approximately ¥8.1 trillion in travel expenditure during 2024, a record high and a 53% increase from the previous year. Average spending reached about ¥227,000 per visitor, up 7%.

The spending mix is equally revealing. Accommodation represented about 33.6%, shopping 29.5%, food and beverages 21.5%, transportation around 11% and entertainment and other services roughly 5%.

The change from the pre-pandemic pattern is particularly noteworthy. Accommodation’s share increased from 29.4% in 2019 to 33.6% in 2024, while shopping’s share fell from 34.7% to 29.5%.

That shift suggests a more diversified visitor wallet. Japan is no longer relying as heavily on retail purchases to drive inbound expenditure, while accommodation has captured a larger share.

The Japan Tourism Agency has also highlighted a structural challenge. Its research found that inbound accommodation demand remains concentrated in major urban areas, while entertainment and services still represent a relatively small share compared with some international markets.

For tourism planners, this creates a clear opportunity. Moving visitors towards regional destinations and higher-value experiences could distribute expenditure beyond Tokyo and other established gateways.

Greece Exposes The Length-Of-Stay Effect

Greece tells a different story. The Bank of Greece recorded €21.592 billion in travel receipts in 2024, up 4.8% year on year. Inbound traveller flows increased 12.8%, while overnight stays rose only 1.9%.

The average expenditure per trip actually declined by 7% to €530.60. At the same time, average expenditure per overnight stay increased 2.9% to €89.70. Average length of stay fell from 6.5 nights to 5.9 nights.

This produces one of the most important findings in the comparison. More visitors can coexist with lower spending per trip when stays become shorter.

The lesson for travellers is practical. A short Greek island break can produce a very different daily budget from a longer multi-island itinerary, even when headline visitor spending appears strong.

Six Wallet Categories Tell Different Stories

Accommodation remains the largest single spending component in several destinations, but the proportions vary. Japan’s 33.6% accommodation share stands out, while Italy’s wider tourism-consumption framework puts accommodation at 35%.

Food remains another major channel, particularly in destinations where gastronomy forms a central part of the travel proposition. Japan allocated about 21.5% of inbound spending to food and beverages in 2024, while Italy’s wider tourism basket allocated 15%.

Shopping creates a particularly large economic footprint in Italy and Japan. Italy’s tourism satellite account measured more than €38 billion in shopping consumption in 2023, while Japan’s 2024 inbound visitors devoted 29.5% of their spending to shopping.

Transport needs more careful interpretation. Spain’s EGATUR explicitly separates international transport, while Japan’s inbound survey records transportation within its visitor expenditure framework. A direct country-to-country percentage comparison can therefore distort the picture.

Attractions and experiences provide another important distinction. Spain’s December data put activities at 23.8% of expenditure, while Japan’s entertainment and other services represented only about 5%. These are not identical statistical categories, but the difference shows why experience-led tourism deserves separate scrutiny.

Nightlife is the hardest category to compare nationally. Governments often place bars, evening entertainment and related purchases inside broader food, recreation or services classifications. A responsible cross-country analysis should therefore treat nightlife as a city-level spending layer rather than inventing a uniform national percentage.

What The Spending Map Means For Travellers

The data can also change how travellers plan budgets. A visitor focusing on Japan should allow significant room for accommodation, shopping and food, while Italy can require greater attention to shopping alongside accommodation and dining.

Spain’s data underline the importance of activities, particularly for travellers building attraction-heavy itineraries. Greece demonstrates how shorter stays can change total trip expenditure even when spending per night increases.

These differences also matter when comparing destinations on price alone. A destination with expensive accommodation may still generate a different total trip cost from one where accommodation is cheaper but transport, shopping or paid attractions absorb more money.

The more useful measure for travellers is therefore daily spending by category, rather than a single headline figure for the whole country.

Tourism Growth Is Becoming More Value-Focused

The five destinations also illustrate a wider industry transition. Tourism authorities increasingly track not only how many visitors arrive, but how much they spend, where they spend it and whether expenditure reaches regions beyond the traditional gateways.

Japan has explicitly linked its tourism strategy to higher visitor consumption and regional distribution. Its government continues to target 60 million international visitors and ¥15 trillion in inbound consumption by 2030, while 2024 already delivered 36.87 million visitors and about ¥8.1 trillion in spending.

France is simultaneously dealing with the concentration and changing composition of accommodation demand. Spain is measuring expenditure at increasingly granular levels through EGATUR, while Greece’s figures demonstrate why longer stays can matter as much as arrival growth.

Italy’s Tourism Satellite Account adds another dimension by measuring both direct and indirect economic effects. That approach shows how visitor expenditure can circulate through commerce, employment, accommodation and other productive sectors.

The Traveller Wallet Is The Real Story

The clearest finding from these five destinations is that tourist volume and tourism value are different measurements. France led the group for international arrivals, yet Spain generated the highest international tourism receipts. Japan attracted fewer visitors than either European giant but produced a remarkably large spending pool.

Greece provides the sharpest warning against relying on arrivals alone. Its 12.8% increase in inbound travellers coincided with a 7% decline in expenditure per trip, partly because average stays shortened.

For travellers, the lesson is equally practical. The real cost of a destination sits across accommodation, food, transport, shopping and experiences, rather than in the room rate alone. For tourism businesses, the opportunity lies in encouraging longer stays, regional dispersal and higher-value experiences without simply pursuing larger arrival totals.