Israel's national Holocaust memorial museum Yad Vashem, in the capital of Jerusalem, is the 47th best tourist attraction in the world, according to a Stasher ranking published earlier this month.
Yad Vashem, Hebrew for “hand and name,” is Israel’s preeminent Holocaust memorial and museum and commemorates the six million Jews systematically murdered by the Nazi regime.
Using data based on several different categories, the luggage storage network ranked the museum 47th on its list of tourist attractions. Any locations missing more than one point of data were excluded from the list.
Topping the list is the Hungarian Parliament Building. This was followed by Disneyland Paris, Iceland’s The Blue Lagoon, the Plaza de Espana, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, St. Peter's Basilica, El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Argentina, the Acropolis of Athens, the Museum of New Zealand and Italy’s Milan Cathedral.
Yad Vashem outranked locations including the Burj Khalifa, the Eiffel Tower, Times Square, the Great Wall of China and Niagara Falls.
How the rankings were evaluated
While there are many ways to evaluate tourist attractions, and while some may strongly disagree with the ordering of the list, Stasher’s evaluations of the locations were based on Google Reviews, TikTok engagement, distance from an airport, tourist safety and quality of local accommodation.
Still, the list is arguably inappropriate. Undoubtedly, comparing locations such as Yad Vashem with places such as Disneyland and ranking them in terms of “better” or “worse” may not only be taken poorly, but it is problematic in that these locations have different goals and serve different purposes.
The criteria the Stasher list uses doesn’t address this, and lumping all “tourist attractions” together debatably views them through a far too broad of a lens.
Yad Vashem declares it is “entrusted with the task of commemorating, documenting, researching and educating about the Holocaust.” It was created by an act of the Israeli government, not a private business. While it may be architecturally stunning and its exhibits may evoke powerful emotions, it is purposed with education, not earning money or providing a fun excursion to its visitors.
Still, that Yad Vashem would make the list is a testament to its fame, its efficacy and its impact on those who visit.