15,992,242 arrivals

"Canada's and Mexico's close proximity, strong economies, (and the fact that the Canadian dollar is on par with U.S. dollar) has had a tremendous influence in stimulating growth in our neighbors to North and South over several years," says the U.S. Department of Commerce's Ron Erdmann. In 2006, the U.S. saw an 8% increase in the number of our northernly neighbors dropping down for a visit.

13,317,000 arrivals

Legal arrivals from Mexico jumped 5% compared with 2005, but mean average household income of Mexican visitors arriving by air increased more than $10,000, to $85,500 in 2006.

4,176,211 arrivals

Even with the weakened dollar, visitation from the U.K. was down 4% in 2006 compared with 2005, and down from 4.7 million in 2000. Still, though, the Brits top the list of overseas (i.e., non-North American) nationalities visiting the States.

3,672,584 arrivals

Last July the U.S. Department of Commerce launched a tourism promotion campaign in Japan; the theme was "You've Seen the Films, Now Visit the Set." The campaign used films featuring U.S. destinations. By year's end, 3.7 million Japanese had come to check out the American scene, although this was a 5% decrease from 2005.

1,385,520 arrivals

According to a study by the World Tourism Organization, Germany was number one in expenditures of tourists abroad by nationality in 2006. Nearly one and a half million of those big-spenders brought their euros to the U.S.

789,815 arrivals

More than three quarters of a million Frenchman and women said "bonjour" to the U.S. last year, but that represented a 10% decline from the previous year. The Office of Travel and Tourism Industries' Ron Erdmann suggests the slowdown may have been due to difficulties the French had in getting their biometric (digitally capable) passports required for U.S. entry.

757,721 arrivals

South Korea may be part of an axis of attraction with the U.S. In 2006, visitors were up 7% compared with the previous year, and 34% of those were making their first trip to the U.S.

603,275 arrivals

U.S. visitation from down under increased 4% in 2006 compared with 2005. Forty-seven percent of Aussie visitors stopped in California, while 37% of them made New York a part of their visit.

532,829 arrivals

They may not have conquered, but plenty of Italians came and saw the U.S. in 2006: more than half a million. This represents a 2% decline compared with 2005, though-Erdmann says the Italians ran into the same delays as the French when it came to obtaining biometric passports.

525,271 arrivals

Americans traveling to Brazil have faced tighter security in recent years, and two U.S. citizens were fined (an average $15,000 each) for making obscene gestures while being photographed at a Brazilian port of entry. But the feeling is not mutual: Brazilian tourism to the U.S. jumped 8% in 2006.

457,728 arrivals

Including Hong Kong, sixty percent of the nearly half a million visitors from the PRC came to the U.S. for business or professional reasons. According the Department of Commerce's U.S. Commercial Service, "In terms of total travel dollars spent, China is currently ranked seventh and is expected to be the second-fastest growing in the world from 2006 to 2015."

446,785 arrivals

China may dwarf the Netherlands in terms of geography, but the Dutch put up travel numbers to rival the Asian giant. Nearly a half a million travelers crossed from the Lowlands to the Land of Opportunity, approximately the same number as in 2005.

424,224 arrivals

Visitors from Spain rose 10% in 2006, one of the highest percentage increases in Europe. According to the U.S. Commercial Service, New York and Florida are the main ports of entry for Spaniards although their "interest in rugged western outdoor tourism has grown noticeably."

414,423 arrivals

After declining in 2001 to 2003, Irish visitation to the U.S. skyrocketed 36% in 2004, for a total increase of 45% since 2000. In 2006 the mean average household income of the Irish visitor topped $100,000 U.S. dollars.

406,845 arrivals

Outside of the People's Republic of China, India had the highest year-to-year percentage increase in U.S. visitors (18%) in our top 20, and 48% growth since 2000. Half of the visitors to the U.S. last year said they came for business or professional reasons; 28% came to visit friends or relatives.

369,037 arrivals

This South American country's president has predicted the imminent fall of the U.S. Empire, but that hasn't stopped Venezuelans from flocking to the devil's playground. Visitation from the South American country was up 8% in 2006 compared with the previous year.

348,388 arrivals

Twenty thousand more Columbians came to the U.S. in 2006 than 2005, bucking an overall downward South American visitation trend (-34% compared with 2000).

300,382 arrivals

Taiwanese travelers to the U.S. fell 6% compared with the previous year, and arrivals are down 34% compared with 2000. When they did come, Taiwanese visited an average of 1.5 U.S. states.

285,994 arrivals

The U.S. Commercial Service says the average Swedish traveler to the States spends $665 per day, excluding airfare. Last year the number of Swedes visiting was down 2%, as Thailand became their long-haul destination of choice.

283,889 arrivals

Visitation from Israelis stayed flat from 2005 to 2006, but so far in 2007, overall visitation to the U.S. from the Middle East is up a healthy 12.6%.