Europe as a whole racked up 671 million international tourist arrivals last yeare, up 8% overall, with nearly every country gaining—but the top winners may surprise you. They were not the usual suspects of France, Germany, England and Spain.
In figures from the European Travel Commission's latest report, top honors went to Turkey, up 28% for the year despite terrorism fears; Iceland (24%), Montenegro (19%), Serbia (18%), Malta (16%), Slovenia and Cyprus (15% apiece) and Finland (14%). Turkey's numbers reflect a 400+ percent increase in Russian visitors.
Russian business also helped out in other countries; other good customers included China, the U.S. and India. U.S. visitors were up by 12%, taking advantage of low airfares. Chinese visitors rose by 16% for the year.
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