Asia is a strong magnet for leisure travel with five cities – Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and Hong Kong – making it into the Global Destination Cities Index 2015 top 10.
London most visited city in the world according to MasterCard index. (Image credit: MarcoGovel iStock)
The annual index by MasterCard provides a ranking of the 132 most visited cities from around the world. It also shows how people move around the world and the importance of the world’s cities as homes, destinations and engines of growth.
For this year the “City of Angels”, Bangkok, has retained its position as the second most visited city in the world with 18.24 million international overnight visitors, and is fast catching up with top-ranked city, London (18.82 million).
Both London and Bangkok have topped the index throughout its five-year history. The rivalry is set to continue as Bangkok’s visitor numbers continue to recover following civil unrest in 2014.
Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and Hong Kong round off the global top 10 taking seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place respectively.
Bangkok is fast catching up with London. (Image credit: OSTILL/iStock)
In Asia Pacific ,Bangkok and Seoul lead the charge taking the top spots for the highest number of visitors and highest total visitor spend respectively.
The top 10 cities according to orecasted international overnight visitors are London 18.82 million, Bangkok 18.24 million, Paris 16.06 million, Dubai 14.26 million, Istanbul 12.56 million, New York 12.27 million, Singapore 11.88 million, Kuala Lumpur 11.12 million, Seoul 10.35 million, and Hong Kong 8.66 million.
Matthew Driver, president, Southeast Asia for MasterCard, called on the governments and tourist authorities in Asia to continue investing in smarter city infrastructure while preserving and protecting the heritage.
“In this way Asia will be able to maintain and build dynamic, exciting, global cities, which will fast become brands in their own right, pulling people to the region.”
Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, chief economist and chair of the Academic Advisory Council at the MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth, added the popularity of Asian cities with international tourists “is a strong leading indicator of their continuing outstanding performance in the years to come.”
