The 25 best countries for tourists in 2019, ranked

• The World Economic Forum released its ranking of the best countries for tourists in 2019.
• The organization looked at factors including business environment, safety and security, tourist infrastructure, cultural resources, and price competitiveness.
• Spain, France, Germany, and Japan tied for the top spot.
• The US, the UK, Australia, and Canada all made the top 10.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The World Economic Forum has ranked the best countries for tourists in 2019.

In its Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019, the organization analyzed data from international organizations and conducted a survey of executives, looking at five main factors in 140 countries:

1. Business environment
2. Safety and security
3. Health and hygiene
4. Human resources and labor market
5. ICT (information and communications technology) readiness

The WEF also looked at a country’s prioritization of tourism, international openness, tourist infrastructure, cultural and natural resources, and price competitiveness.

Read more: Forget Champagne and infinity pools: High-end travelers today want to make an impact on the places they visit, according to a luxury safari operator

Each country was given an overall score between 1 and 7; because the top score was shared by four countries equally, there is no No. 1 entry in the ranking below.

Most of the countries that made the top 25 are in Europe, but Japan, the US, Australia, and Canada all made the top 10 too.

Here are the top 25 countries for tourists in 2019, ranked.

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T25. Greece

Score: 4.5

• Travel tips for Greece:

• Forget Mykonos and Santorini. I found a little-known island in Greece that's twice as beautiful and half the price.
• A secluded cove on the beach in Crete is the perfect spot to surf the waves
• A local in Greece gave me a tip to visiting the country, and it's the opposite of everything you've been told

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T25. Belgium

Score: 4.5

Travel tips for Belgium:

• A restaurant in Belgium is at the bottom of a pool
• Belgium has opened the world's first beer pipeline that pumps 1,000 gallons per hour every day

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T23. Luxembourg

Score: 4.6

Travel tips for Luxembourg:

• Here's what it's like to visit Luxembourg - which is the richest country on the planet and smaller than Rhode Island
• Luxembourg just became the first country to offer free public transportation, but the policy might not work as planned

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T23. Sweden

Score: 4.6

Travel tips for Sweden:

• You can now sleep in a floating hotel in Sweden that offers incredible views of the Northern Lights
• This glass cabin in Sweden takes you closer to nature
• We tried all the unique menu items at Swedish McDonald's - including the McVegan
• Stockholm's subway stations make you feel like you're in actual caves

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T23. Denmark

Score: 4.6

Travel tips for Denmark:

• 10 places to visit in Denmark that aren't Copenhagen
• Here's what life is like in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, one of the world's smallest capital cities
• Denmark's 150-foot spiral observation deck is an architectural masterpiece, but the photos show it's not for the faint of heart

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T23. Norway

Score: 4.6

Travel tips for Norway:

• I took my family of 6 on a trip to Norway, one of the most expensive countries in the world, for under $7,000
• This picturesque Norwegian town has so many more books than residents that roadside libraries and bookshelves line the streets
• Stunning photos show what life is like in the northernmost town in the world, where it's dark 4 months of the year and you're told to carry a rifle because of polar bears
• An island of tiny homes in Norway is available to rent for $3,500 a week. People call it a 'slice of heaven.'

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T19. Mexico

Score: 4.7

Travel tips for Mexico:

• There are 1.5 million Americans living in Mexico - here are 8 things Americans wished they'd known before they moved
• 10 ways Cinco de Mayo is celebrated differently in the US and Mexico

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T19. New Zealand

Score: 4.7

• Travel tips for New Zealand:

• You can now rent a replica of the Apollo 11 spaceship that landed on the moon for $61 a night on Airbnb
• The 3 best places to travel every month of 2019

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T17. Singapore

Score: 4.8

Travel tips for Singapore:

• I visited Singapore, the outlandishly wealthy setting of 'Crazy Rich Asians,' and was surprised by how much fun you can have even without billions
• 50 mouthwatering photos of street food in Singapore
• The world's best airport just unveiled a $1.25 billion glass dome mall with a rainforest, waterfalls, and bejeweled clouds
• What it's like living as a billionaire in Singapore, the most expensive city in the world, where wealthy residents are worth a combined $1 trillion and limited land makes owning a house the ultimate 'status symbol'

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T17. South Korea

Score: 4.8

Travel tips for South Korea:

• What it's really like inside a South Korean 'prison' hotel, where guests pay to spend up to 48-hours locked in a jail cell without their phones
• 10 things to do in South Korea, from a raccoon café to a fresh seafood market
• The world's busiest air route is between Seoul and the 'South Korean Hawaii'

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T17. Netherlands

Score: 4.8

Travel tips for the Netherlands:

• Dutch farmers are installing fences around tulip fields to stop Instagrammers from trampling the flowers for selfies
• 24 of the most underrated things to do in Amsterdam
• Amsterdam is giving tourists the chance to 'marry' a local for the day and explore the city on 'honeymoon'

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T17. Hong Kong

Score: 4.8

Travel tips for Hong Kong:

• I stayed at Hong Kong's first 'capsule hotel' to see what it's like to live in micro - and the experience was a nightmare
• Inside the most expensive neighborhood in the world's most expensive city - a billionaire enclave where Alibaba founder Jack Ma may have bought a $191 million mansion
• What it's like living in Hong Kong as a billionaire, where the ultra-rich live in high-security mansions and spend $16 billion a year betting on horse racing

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T13. China

Score: 4.9

Travel tips for China:

• After riding China's superfast bullet train that could go from New York to Chicago in 4.5 hours, it's clear how far behind the US really is
• One photo shows that China is already in a cashless future
• I visited the tallest and longest glass bridge in the world - which spans China's 'Grand Canyon'

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T13. Portugal

Score: 4.9

Travel tips for Portugal:

• 12 tips to make the most of your trip to Portugal
• I visited the Portuguese castle called 'Disneyland for adults,' and it's a magical, real-life fairy-tale setting you can't miss
• 2 photos show how different it is visiting Portugal in the high season vs. the low season

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T11. Austria

Score: 5.0

Travel tips for Austria:

• The 10 most livable cities in the world - and why Vienna made it to the number one spot this year
• The 6 best things to do in Vienna and Austria
• A Michelin-starred restaurant in Austria cooks one of their fish dishes with melted beeswax

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T11. Switzerland

Score: 5.0

Travel tips for Switzerland:

• I bathed in cheese in the Swiss mountains - here's what the experience was like
• Soak in a transforming hot tub that overlooks the Swiss Alps
• 22 photos that show what it's like to eat at the lavish Swiss restaurant voted the world's best by private jet fliers

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T9. Canada

Score: 5.1

Travel tips for Canada:

• 15 photos that will make you wish you lived in Canada
• The ultimate guide to seeing Montreal in a day
• Travel company exposes you to the vast Canadian wilderness during helicopter tours

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T9. Italy

Score: 5.1

Travel tips for Italy:

• We visited the Vespa headquarters in Italy to see how the world-famous scooters are made
• Venice is cutting back on cruise ships. Disappointing photos show what the Italian port city looks like in real life, from extreme overcrowding and devastating floods to cruise ship accidents
• Inside the exclusive Italian resort that plays host to Google Camp, the secretive and star-studded annual conference that draws billionaires, CEOs, and celebrities
• Positano - the colorful, Instagram-famous town on Italy's Amalfi Coast - is almost comically beautiful, but be prepared to deal with hordes of tourists and sky-high prices

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T9. Australia

Score: 4.8

Travel tips for Australia:

• An Australian city is spending $279,000 on a public toilet for Instagrammers flocking to a blue boat shed
• Australia is the most popular destination in the world for migrating millionaires
• 12 places to visit in Australia that aren't Sydney

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6. United Kingdom

Score: 5.2

Travel tips for the United Kingdom:

• 16 places you should visit in the United Kingdom that aren't London
• Here's what 6 abandoned UK castles looked like in their prime
• 10 differences and similarities between American and British daily routines

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5. United States

Score: 5.3

Travel tips for the United States:

• 10 surprising US tourist destinations worth a visit this year
• 27 underrated US destinations everyone should visit in their lifetime
• The best road trips from 10 major US cities
• Glamping has come to NYC. I took an 8-minute ferry ride to an island in New York Harbor where people pay up to $1,200 a night to sleep in luxe tents and cabins - here's what it looks like.

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T4. Japan

Score: 5.4

Travel tips for Japan:

• Japan eats 10,000 tons of this poisonous puffer fish delicacy
• We tried 15 unique menu items at McDonald's in Japan - here's what they were like
• 13 of the best and most underrated things to do in Japan

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T4. Germany

Score: 5.4

Travel tips for Germany:

• 32 things everyone should do in Germany
• The 52 most incredible places to visit

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T4. France

Score: 5.4

Travel tips for France:

• Inside France's Élysée Palace, the French presidential residence that's larger than the White House and the Palace of Versailles
• Take a look inside the luxury French farmhouse where the Obama family is currently vacationing that costs $62,000 per week
• 13 foods you shouldn't leave Paris without trying

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T4. Spain

Score: 5.4

Travel tips for Spain:

• You can now sleep inside a lighthouse turned into a luxury hotel on a remote Spanish island
• 14 foods you need to try if you visit Spain
• 10 things in Spain to put on your bucket list