Paraguay recorded the world’s fastest growth in international tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2026, with a +46% increase compared to Q1 2025. 

Using data from UN Tourism as of May 2026, the infographic above ranks the 20 best-performing destinations globally in Q1 2026 by percentage change in international tourist arrivals compared to Q1 2025. 

The landlocked South American country (one of the least-visited nations on the continent and rarely featured in global tourism marketing) leads the ranking.

TL;DR

• Paraguay recorded the world’s fastest growth in international tourist arrivals in Q1 2026, up 46% compared to Q1 2025. 
• None of the top six fastest-growing destinations are traditional tourism powerhouses.
• Asia Pacific placed the most destinations in the top 20 with seven entries, while Europe’s six entries came entirely from smaller, less-visited markets.

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Caveat…

The dataset measures percentage growth, not absolute volume. 

A +46% increase in Paraguay may represent far fewer additional tourists than a +12% increase in South Africa. 

The list identifies where momentum is building, not where the largest crowds are going. 

On that measure, in Q1 2026, the world’s tourists are increasingly going somewhere unexpected.

Countries that Top the List

NOTE: It is based on destinations with available data for the period and does not include every country globally.

New Caledonia recorded +45%, placing it second globally, while El Salvador came third at +43%. 

Neither of these two countries ranks among the world’s top 20 most-visited destinations by absolute arrivals. 

The fastest tourism growth in the world is concentrated in emerging markets, frontier destinations, and countries that were recently disrupted, closed, or overlooked.

El Salvador’s entry is the most politically significant in the top six. 

The country was previously among the most dangerous in the Western Hemisphere, effectively ruled out as a leisure destination for most international travelers. 

A security crackdown beginning in 2022 under President Nayib Bukele produced a sharp reduction in gang violence and a subsequent rerating of the country’s accessibility. 

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Asia Pacific leads by region

Asia Pacific placed seven destinations in the top 20, more than any other region, according to UN Tourism data. 

New Caledonia, Mongolia, Palau, Tonga, Brunei, Korea, and Samoa all recorded double-digit year-on-year growth. 

Palau and Tonga are both Pacific island nations that implemented some of the world’s strictest border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic and are still recovering from the suppressed base those closures created. 

Korea’s +23% growth likely reflects the continued recovery of Chinese outbound tourism, which historically made Chinese visitors South Korea’s largest single source market before pandemic-era travel restrictions halted those flows.

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The Surprise: Europe’s Fastest Growers

Europe placed six destinations in the top 20, but none are Western Europe’s traditional tourism giants. 

For example, Uzbekistan (+37%), Ireland (+24%), Armenia (+17%), Malta (+16%), Slovakia (+16%), and Lithuania (+15%) account for all six European entries. 

France, Spain, Italy, and Greece do not appear. 

Europe’s tourism growth in Q1 2026 is happening in Central Asian heritage destinations, small Eastern European markets, and island nations. 

ELI5

The countries where tourism grew the fastest in early 2026 are not the usual holiday spots. Paraguay (a small South American country with no beach) topped the list with 46% more visitors than the year before. 

El Salvador, Mongolia, and Uzbekistan all made the top six. France, Spain, and Italy did not make the list at all. 

The data shows tourists are increasingly exploring places they would not have considered a few years ago.

Source:

UN Tourism