By Emma Gavozzi

There’s no question that Niagara Falls is a major tourist attraction. But does it draw more tourists than either the Great Wall of China or the Great Pyramids in Egypt? 

That’s what Nate McMurray, a Democrat who is running for an open New York State Assembly seat, said in a campaign launch video on Jan. 21.  

The data appears to support McMurray’s statement: 

• According to the Canadian-based Niagara Falls Tourism organization, “the Niagara Region welcomes approximately 14 million visitors yearly,” and 12 million people visit the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario.  
• New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation figures for the Niagara Falls State Park on the U.S. side show that 8.9 million people visited the main viewing area for the falls in 2025. 
• And the Guinness World Records says that in 2012, Niagara Falls was the world’s most visited waterfall, with 22.5 million visitors that year, covering both sides of the border. 

How do the Great Wall and the Great Pyramids compare? 

• In a CNN article on attendance at the Great Wall, Chen Fei, deputy director of the Badaling School District Office, said the most visited part of the wall — the Badaling section just outside Beijing — attracted “about 10 million visitors” in 2019. Some tourism sources have estimated that other locations on the wall account for another 5 million to 7 million visitors. 
• The Great Pyramids of Giza host about 2.5 million visitors a year, according to a 2025 Bloomberg report.  

Although a comparison of the numbers indicates the totals for Niagara Falls are greater than the other two sites, there is more to the story.  

Stephen Pratt, a University of Central Florida professor in the Department of Tourism, Events, Entertainment and Attractions, noted that there is no unified methodology for counting visitors that would allow a fully apples-to-apples comparison of the three sites. 

Pratt said: 

• Annual visitor estimates for Niagara Falls range from 8 million to 12 million to more than 22 million depending on whether the entire region or just the waterfall area is used. 
• Annual attendance for the Great Wall at Badaling, he said, has been estimated at 10 million to 17 million, but some sources have reported totals as high as 50 million. 
• Attendance figures for Egypt’s Great Pyramids range from 2.5 million to 14.7 million. Higher figures may include visits by Egyptians during holidays. 

Totals also can vary based on whether counts include only ticketed tourists or everyone who visits a site. 

Pratt added that organizations and stakeholders will often use the statistics that best suit their needs. “Tourism agencies are incentivized to ‘promote strong numbers,’” he explained. 

Numbers aside, Pratt acknowledged that there is no question Niagara Falls ranks high. 

“Niagara Falls is consistently among the most visited attractions in the world,” he said. 

And that’s a hard statement to argue with. 

Categories: Jandoli Institute