People travel every year different places for different purposes. Mastercard released its Global Destination Cities Index of ranking of the 132 most visited cities around the world. Based on that, we will be looking top 5 most visited destinations in 2016. Bangkok city in Thailand tops the list with 21.47 million overnight visitors. London, Paris, Dubai, as well as New York, follow the list behind Bangkok.
Bangkok is the capital as well as most populous city of Thailand. The city’s population is just 10 million whereas the visitors are more than double this number. Bangkok was the most visited city in 2012 and 2013. In 2014 and 2015, London topped the annual rankings. It overtook London’s top position due to better political condition in 2016. There was 9.6% rise in number compared to 2015. Majority of the international visitors are from China. Only 14% of people traveling to Bangkok travel for business. The majority were expected to be for leisure purpose.
It is famous for Wat Arun (The Temple of Dawn), Floating markets, Khao San Road, The Grand Palace, as well as many other places.
19.88 million visitors will visit London (England) in 2016. London can generate projected income of $US19.86 billion in 2016 from there visitors. These visitors stay an average of 7.7 days. 47% of the visitors’ spending in London was for shopping purpose. The average expenditure of a visitor was expected to be $US994.
It is famous for Buckingham Palace Tour, Coca-Cola London Eye, Tower of London, as well as many other places.
Paris (France) held second place each year from 2012 to 2015. But now, it has fallen well behind Bangkok and London due to November’s terrorist attacks. These attacks generated fear in people’s mind. This made them reluctant to visit. This year 18 million visitors are expected in the city. 30% of the visitors came for business purpose.
It is famous for Notre-Dame Cathedral, Musee du Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Le Marais as well as many other places.
Dubai (United Arab Emirates) expects income of $US31.3 billion from visitors in 2016. This is the highest among all the cities. There would be 15.27 million visitors in Dubai. Reports claim that Dubai is growing effectively to top the list in coming years. Visitors’ average length of stay is 3.84 days in Dubai.
It is famous for Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, Dubai Museum, Bastakia, Dubai Creek as well as many other places.
New York City (USA) is expected to have 12.75 million visitors. It is the most populated as well as the most densely populated city in the US. Generally, we all would have thought New York as top. But unfortunately, it’s the 5th in the list.
It is famous for Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, American Museum of Natural History, 9/11 Memorial as well as many other places.
Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul, Seoul, as well as Tokyo further follow the list of the next 5 destinations in the list. These cities are not much far from top 5. Even we will see many of these cities in top 5 in coming years.
