Bangkok is now the most visited city in the world!
Bangkok has beaten London to the number one spot as 2013's most popular tourist destination with 15.98 million visitor projected to descend in Thailand's capital city this year, according to the new Global Destination Cities Index released by MasterCard.
Based on data MasterCard collected from governments, central banks, related public agencies and airlines so far this year, the projection for the entire year says Bangkok is surpassing London, the previous holder of the top place, by a very narrow margin. The report marked the first time any Asian city has been projected to be the top-ranked tourist destination. London came in second, with 15.96 million visitors expected in 2013, and Paris, third, with 13.92 million visitors. MasterCard looked at 132 cities.
Other Asian cities that made it to the Top 20 Global Destination Cities in 2013 include, Singapore at number four; with 11.75 million visitors, Kuala Lumpur at number eight; with 9.2 million visitors, Hong Kong at number nine; with 8.72 million visitors, Seoul at number 11; with 8.19 million visitors, Shanghai at number 14; with 6.5 million visitors, Tokyo at number 16; with 5.8 million visitors, and Taipei; with 5.19 million visitors.
MasterCard Worldwide’s global economic adviser Yuwa Hedrick-Wong cited overall value for money spent for why Bangkok is attractive. That is true for Thailand overall as well.
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) adviser Suwanchai Ritthirak cited official data in saying that each foreign visitor spends an average of 9.6 days and 4,100 baht (about US$141.50) in the country. Therefore, to boost Bangkok’s ranking, more needs to be done to increase either or both factor.
Index Ranking by Number of International Visitors (in millions):
- Bangkok 15.98
- London 15.96
- Paris 13.92
- Singapore 11.75
- New York 11.52
- Istanbul 10.37
- Dubai 9.89
- Kuala Lumpur 9.20
- Hong Kong 8.72
- Barcelona 8.41
- Seoul 8.19
- Milan 6.83
- Rome 6.71
- Shanghai 6.50
- Amsterdam 6.35
- Tokyo 5.80
- Vienna 5.37
- Taipei 5.19
- Riyadh 5.05
- Los Angeles 4.84
