by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 10:05 AM ET, Mon July 6, 2026
International tourist arrivals reached a new record in OECD countries last year, according to a new report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The new tourism report analyzed tourism performance across 53 OECD and partner countries. The OECD is a cooperative economic partnership including the United States, France, Australia, South Korea and others.
According to the report, international tourist arrivals, building on 2024’s record growth of 8.1%, grew by 3.4% in 2025, reaching 847 million.
This number represents 56.1% of global international tourist arrivals, showing that OECD countries are among the most widely visited in the world.
Yet the report identifies some current challenges facing these countries, including resilience and adaptation amid geopolitical tensions, traveler behavior and weather-related events and disasters.
"Tourism continues to grow, generating business opportunities, jobs and tax revenues across the OECD,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said. “Governments and businesses need to work together to sustain this growth and build resilience. This means applying the lessons of the pandemic and the conflict in the Middle East to strengthen crisis preparedness, and managing tourism and visitor flows to ensure the sector delivers lasting benefits.”
Uneven Tourism Growth Across OECD Countries
One-third of OECD countries expect their tourism performance to exceed 2025 levels, with many expecting to set new records. Yet while this is a cause for celebration for many countries, this growth is uneven.
Last year, Finland, Japan, South Korea and Norway all recorded double-digit growth in international visitation.
Yet at the same time, Canada, Germany, Ireland and the United States saw dropping international visitation from the year before, with the United States reporting a 5.5% drop, the highest of any country during 2025. These countries have yet to recover.
Travel Decision-Making and Confidence Are Shifting
The report found that the conflict in the Middle East has dampened traveler confidence worldwide, as higher travel costs and disruptions increase.
Safety, affordability and cancellations may impact short-term travel decisions, with travelers choosing more affordable or more familiar destinations, shorter stays and cheaper options.
Key Destination Priorities
The OECD report recommends that member and partner countries prioritize key policies, such as partnerships between local and national governments, shifting towards value-based tourism models, prioritizing sustainability and resilience, investing in digitalization, enhancing the social benefits of tourism through destination governance, adapting tourism to extreme weather events, and more.
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