By Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images
How was the list compiled? T+L used data from attractions, government agencies, industry reports and "reputable" media outlets. As for Times Square, The Times Square Alliance estimated that 80% of the 49 million tourists who visited New York in 2010 came to the city's bright-lights, JumboTron hub.
"Tourist attractions" were deemed to be "cultural and historical sites, natural landmarks, and officially designated spaces," the magazine says. So that's why Minnesota's Mall of America— which counted 40 million visitors a year — did not make No. 1.
The list is controversial. For one thing, 9 of the top 10 are in the USA (Niagara Falls also includes Canada). One might think tourist spots in populous China or India might have been up there, or the Champs-Elysees in popular Paris. Is Washington's Union Station really more crowded than O'Hare, Atlanta or Heathrow airports?
Anyway, here is the top-10 list.
1. Times Square (39.2 million)
2. Central Park in NYC (38 million).
3. Washington, D.C.'s Union Station (37 million)
4. Las Vegas Strip (29.5 million)
5. Niagara Falls (22.5 million)
6. NYC's Grand Central Terminal (21.6 million)
7. Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston (18 million)
8. Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Orlando (about 17 million)
9. Disneyland, Anaheim, Calif. (about 16 million. Disney never gives attendance figures, so both these are estimates.)
10. Grand Bazaar, Istanbul (15 million)
What countries get the most tourists? France is No. 1, the USA No. 2, and China passed Spain last year to rank No. 3 according to T+L, based on World Tourism Organization stats.
