Bangkok named World’s Most Visited City, according to Mastercard

THAILAND. Bangkok has been ranked the top destination city by international overnight visitor arrivals, according to the sixth annual Mastercard Global Destinations Cities Index released today.

Asian cities (Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Seoul) make up half of the global top ten cities and seven of the top ten fastest growing destination cities (Osaka, Chengdu, Colombo, Tokyo, Taipei, Xi’an and Xiamen).

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According to the study, Bangkok is projected to receive 21.47 million international overnight visitors in 2016, just ahead of second-ranked London. Forecasted international overnight visitors to the top ten cities include:

Bangkok – 21.47 million
London – 19.88 million
Paris – 18.03 million
Dubai – 15.27 million
New York – 12.75 million
Singapore – 12.11 million
Kuala Lumpur – 12.02 million
Istanbul – 11.95 million
Tokyo – 11.70 million
Seoul – 10.20 million

Mastercard Global Economic Advisor Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong commented: “The continuing strength of global tourism is one of the silver linings of an otherwise complicated and less-than-satisfactory recovery since the 2008/09 crisis. To a very large extent this is driven by an expanding middle class in many emerging markets. For such middle class households, traveling overseas is a priority as their discretionary spending expands. As we have highlighted, within the universe of the 132 of the most important cities in the world, growth in the number of international visitors out-perform world GDP growth by 2.5 times over the 2009 to 2016 period.

“This speaks powerfully to the importance of inclusive growth, a pattern of growth that benefits the majority of households in a society; which strengthens domestic demand in spite of generally more anemic global economic conditions. For destination cities, tapping into a diverse network of origin cities where the middle class is growing strongly is key to success in the coming years.”

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Osaka has shown the strongest growth in international visitors over the last seven years, followed by Chengdu, the provincial capital of China’s Sichuan province. Forecasted top ten fastest growing cities by compound annual growth rate (CAGR) (2009-2016) include:

1. Osaka – 24.15%

2. Chengdu – 20.14%

3. Abu Dhabi – 19.81%

4. Colombo – 19.57%

5. Tokyo – 18.48%

6. Riyadh – 16.45%

7. Taipei – 14.53%

8. Xi’an – 14.20%

9. Tehran – 12.98%

10. Xiamen – 12.93%

The 2016 Index shows that among the top 20 cities, more people travel internationally for leisure (85.6% for Bangkok), except to Shanghai where more than half visit for business (54.6%).

Accommodation makes up the biggest portion of visitors’ expenditure in most of the destination cities, with the exception of Istanbul.

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The report also identified key regional findings. London, ranked second globally and first in the Europe region, is the top feeder city in terms of visitor and spending volume for all other cities that round out the top European destinations: Paris, Istanbul, Barcelona and Amsterdam.

In Latin America, Lima is both the top destination and fastest growing city in the region since 2009, with 4.03 million visitors (ranked 32nd globally). In terms of overnight visitor spend, Punta Cana leads the region with US$2.95 billion followed by Mexico City (US$2.27 billion).

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Dubai is the top ranked destination city in the Middle East (ranked fourth globally), while Abu Dhabi is the fastest growing in the region since 2009 with a seven year (CAGR) growth rate of 19.81%.

New York, ranked fifth globally, is the number one destination city in North America. It significantly surpasses the rest of the region in overnight visitor spend at US$18.50 billion. Nearly 90% of New York’s international visitors are from outside North America, led by London, Paris, Sao Paulo, Toronto and Beijing.

The full report can be downloaded here.

 

 

 

 

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