In a report which claims it ‘adds insights into purpose of travel and local spend’, credit card giant Mastercard has ranked Bangkok as its leading destination city by international overnight visitor arrivals within its annual Mastercard Global Destinations Cities Index.

 

Mastercard says that the Index ranks 132 of the world’s ‘most visited cities’, while it also projects visitor volume and spend estimates for the 2016 calendar year.

 

It also claims to deliver ‘a deeper understanding’ of how people travel and spend around the world. As such, it is projecting that Bangkok will receive 21.47m international overnight visitors in 2016, just ahead of second-ranked London.

 

 

FORECAST TOTALS FOR OTHER CITIES…

Its forecast international overnight visitor totals for the rest of the top 10 cities rank as follows: London 19.88m; Paris 18.03m; Dubai 15.27m; New York 12.75m; Singapore 12.11m; Kuala Lumpur 12.02m; Istanbul 11.95m; Tokyo 11.70m; and Seoul 10.20m.

 

Mastercard claims that ‘the biggest surprise’ is Dubai’s jump to the top rank this year, based on international visitor spending of US$31.3bn – far exceeding the second ranked London spend, which is estimated at US$19.8bn.

 

GROWING IMPORTANCE…

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

 

It adds that many cities measured on the index show increasing growth trajectories, indicating growing interest in both visiting and living in cities.

 

Osaka has shown the strongest growth in international visitors (24.15%) over the last seven years. Other cities that made the forecasted top 10 fastest growing cities include: Chengdu 20.14%; Abu Dhabi 19.81%; Colombo 19.57%; Tokyo 18.48%; Riyadh 16.45%; Taipei 14.53%; Xi’an 14.20%; Tehran 12.98%; and Xiamen 12.93%.

 

 

 

SPENDING AND SHOPPING INSIGHTS

This index also examined whether visitors travel for business or leisure, as well as insights into how international visitors spend, including dining, lodging and shopping.

 

Mastercard says that the 2016 study shows that among the top 20 cities, more people travel internationally for leisure, except to Shanghai.

 

 

Visitors to the top 20 overwhelmingly spent more while shopping, as opposed to dining – except in Europe, where meals captured a greater share of spend in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Istanbul, Milan, Paris, Prague and Vienna.

 

The full report can be directly downloaded by clicking here: http://mstr.cd/2cR4Sp8