Yahoo Finance The 10 most popular cities for international tourists in 2018
International tourism is booming and visitors are increasingly flocking to urban Asian hubs, according to a new city ranking released this month by research firm Euromonitor.
Hong Kong in China and Bangkok in Thailand remained the two most visited cities in the world in 2018, according to the Euromonitor report, which noted that surging Chinese travellers have been reshaping global tourism trends.
Hong Kong welcomed nearly 30 million international visitors this year, up 7% from 2017. Bangkok saw inflows of nearly 24 million, up 5.5% from last year.
“In this year’s ranking, Asia continues its rise. The region accounts for 41 out of the top 100 cities. This number has steadily risen from 37 in 2012,” noted report author and travel expert Wouter Geerts.
The glitzy Chinese gambling hotspot Macau and the city-state of Singapore were also in the top five most popular cities for international visitors this year.
London – the sole city in the top five list outside of Asia — ranked as the third most visited hub in the world, with nearly 21 million international visitors. But growth was at a more modest rate of 4.5% compared to 2017.
Here is a list of the top 10 most popular destinations for international tourists in 2018:
Hong Kong – 29.8 million visitors
Bangkok – 23.7 million visitors
London – 20.7 million visitors
Macau – 18.9 million visitors
Singapore – 18.6 million visitors
Paris – 16.9 million visitors
Dubai – 16.7 million visitors
New York City – 13.5 million visitors
Kuala Lumpur – 13.4 million visitors
Shenzhen – 12.4 million visitors
International tourists are forecast to take a total of 1.4 billion trips in 2018, up 5% from last year.
The Euromonitor report calculated its ranking based on international tourists who stayed in a city for at least one night. The report did not count domestic tourists, cruise ship passengers or international travellers on single-day trips.
Bigger isn’t better
In the midst of seemingly frantic tourism growth, some well-known hubs are actively shying away from the spotlight. Venice and Barcelona, in particular, have tried to tame the inflows in recent years as they found tourists were crowding out residents and creating noise problems.
“With overcrowding becoming increasingly prevalent, city tourism boards are getting to grips with a future in which they will be looking to attract the ‘right’ traveller,” said Geerts.
“There is a growing realisation that focusing on volume on its own is not the correct approach. Instead, the incremental value that different types of tourists bring is becoming more important,” he added.
