The runner-up is Paris with 19.10 million visitors. London came a close third with 19.01 million. Other two destinations in the big five of the most visited cities in the world are Dubai (15.93 million) and Singapore (14.67 million). Both vacation and business travellers were counted in Mastercard's annual list.
Cities in the Asia-Pacific region have been on the rise in terms of increase in international visitors since 2009, growing 9.4%. Indeed, there are several other cities from the region that performed quite well including Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that is ranked 6th with 13.79 million, and Tokyo, Japan, with 12.93 million on the 9th line.
Even more APAC destinations are featured among the top 20: Seoul, South Korea (11.25 mln) comes 11th, Osaka, Japan (10.14 mln) – 12th, Phuket, Thailand (9.89 mln) – 14th, Pattaya, Thailand (9.44 mln) – 15th, Bali, Indinesia (8.26 mln) – 19th and Hong Kong SAR (8.23 mln) – 20th.
The only city in America to make it up to the top 20 global destinations list is New York. It comes the 7th with 13.6 million.
Bangkok Tops Mastercard's 2019 Global Destination Cities Index 4th Year in a Row
News in Asia
According to Mastercard's 2019 Global Destination Cities Index, Bangkok is the top destination for global travellers for the fourth year in a row. In 2018, Bangkok welcomed about 22.7 million travellers.