People travel for all sorts of reasons—to eat at the best restaurants in the world, to hike the tallest mountains, and to experience vibrant festivals. But according to a new study by travel planning website Trip.com, many people travel for one simple reason: theme parks.
Trip.com recently released the 2025 Global 100, an annual list where it ranks things like the top hotels, attractions, and restaurants across the planet. To determine its rankings, Trip.com combed through data such as verified user ratings, reviews, and booking statistics, as well as factors such as popularity, a destination’s reputation, and quality of service.
But one of the most interesting (and perhaps surprising) things about the report is that the top global attractions are dominated by theme parks.
Of the top 10 attractions included in the 2025 Global 100 rankings, six were theme parks. Destinations such as Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Studios Japan, Shanghai Disney Resort, and Disneyland in California, mingled among heavy-hitting cultural institutions such as The Palace Museum in Beijing, the Louvre, La Sagrada Familia, and the Vatican. These were the top 10 attractions in the world, according to Trip.com:
Louvre MuseumWalt Disney World ResortThe Palace MuseumDisneyland Park CaliforniaLa Sagrada FamiliaShanghai Disney ResortUniversal Orlando ResortVatican MuseumsUniversal Studios JapanUniversal Beijing Resort
And, if you take a step further back and look at the top 30 of the list, there are three more theme parks (Disneyland Paris, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Hong Kong Disneyland) in the mix, for a grand total of 13.
For those looking to add a visit to a theme park to their next international adventure, there are only going to be more options in the coming years. Both Disney and Universal are planning improvements and expansions to existing parks, and Universal recently announced it will open its first European park just outside of London in 2031.
