Hong Kong has ranked the world's seventh tourist attraction with over 21.8 million visitor arrivals in 2004, according to the statistics from the World Tourism Organization.

The large number of tourists visiting Hong Kong last year, which could be attributed mainly to individual visitors from the Chinese mainland, has made the city one of the world's 10 top tourist attractions, the Sing Tao newspaper reported on Sunday.

The WTO statistics also show that China's mainland beats Italy,ranking the fourth with over 41 million tourists arrivals. The Palace Museum and the Great Wall in Beijing are more attractive to tourists than Italy's Uffizi Gallery and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

France was still the hottest scenic place with 75 million tourist arrivals last year, followed by Spain and the United States, the report said.

Source: Xinhua