Bangkok Beats London As Most Popular Travel Destination

September 22, 2016

Bangkok is now the most popular global travel destination according to Mastercard’s annual Global Destinations Cities Index.

Bangkok beat 2015’s most popular destination, London, into second place.

The index measures international overnight visitor arrivals and ranks the 132 most visited cities around the world.

Bangkok is projected to receive 21.47 million international visitors in 2016, followed by London on 19.88 million. Paris, Dubai and New York round out the top five.

Mastercard says the difference between the global top 10 and the fastest growing top 10 cities suggests that Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa have become increasingly important to the global economic landscape.

Asia Pacific dominates both the global top 10, with five cities, and the 10 fastest growing cities list with seven entries.

The five Asia Pacific cities in the top ten are Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Seoul.

In Europe, London maintains its top spot, followed by Paris, Istanbul, Barcelona and Amsterdam.

New York leads the North America list, while Lima tops the South America cities in popularity.

In the Middle East and Africa, Dubai is the most popular destination city followed by Abu Dhabi. The UAE capital is the fastest growing city in the region in terms of popularity with a growth rate of 81 percent.

(Airwise)