Welcoming around 22.7 million international visitors, Bangkok ranked as the top destination for global travelers this year, according to Mastercard‘s 2019 Global Destination Cities Index.
The commendation is a repeat for the Thai capital, as it was named the world’s most visited city for the past four years.
Following Bangkok, Paris (19.10 million) came as a close second, with London (19.01 million), Dubai (15.93 million) and Singapore (14.67 million) rounding out the top five most visited cities in the world in 2018. Mastercard’s annual list looks at visitor volume and spend at the 200 largest cities in the world, counting both vacation and business travelers in the previous year.
New York, the only city in the Americas to crack the top 20 global destinations list, ranked at seven with 13.6 million.
According to MasterCard, cities in the Asia-Pacific region have seen the most growth in international visitors since 2009, growing 9.4%.
Dubai was named as the top city for international visitor spending globally at $30.82 billion. With the average traveler to Dubai spending three and a half nights in the emirate, that translates to a whopping $553 per night. Mecca was named second ($20.09 million) while Bangkok ($20.03 million) ranked third.
The top ten cities for international visitors in 2017 is below. The full list, and breakouts, are available here:
| 2018 International Overnight Visitors | |
| Bangkok | 22.78 million |
| Paris | 19.10 million |
| London | 19.09 million |
| Dubai | 15.93 million |
| Singapore | 14.67 million |
| Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 13.79 million |
| New York | 13.60 million |
| Istanbul | 13.40 million |
| Tokyo | 12.93 million |
| Antalya, Turkey | 12.41 million |
