Top Urban Destinations

Euromonitor International has released its annual ranking of Top Urban Destinations, covering 100 of the world’s leading cities in terms of international tourist arrivals. This year’s report includes forecast data up to 2025 and incorporates future travel trends to provide more insights into how travel trends arise from the opportunities and challenges cities face.According to the report, Hong Kong was the most visited city in the world, benefiting from its strategic location and relationship with China, followed by Bangkok, which surpassed London in 2015. Asian cities dominate the global destination ranking thanks to the relentless increase in Chinese tourism abroad. In 2010, 34 cities from the Asia-Pacific region were present in Euromonitor International’s ranking. This number jumped to 41 cities in 2017 and is expected to grow to 47 cities by 2025.In contrast, the performance of European cities has been hampered by several events in recent years, including the eurozone and migrant crises, as well as Brexit and terrorist attacks.Plans for stricter border controls may also weigh on America’s performance. Although it recorded positive growth, arrivals in the U.S. saw a slowdown in 2016 due to the strong dollar and political uncertainty surrounding the American elections.New York, the most visited city in America and the only U.S. city in the top 10 most visited cities, revised its forecast for 2017, expecting a possible drop of 300,000 visitors in the worst-case scenario.In South America, Rio de Janeiro remains the most popular destination. Although its ranking position has remained the same, the number of visitors recorded a slight decline: from 2.3 million in the 2016 survey to 2.253 million this year. Just like last year, Rio continues to be the only Brazilian city on the list of the 100 most sought-after destinations in the world. The only other two South American cities in the ranking were Buenos Aires and Lima.The ten most visited cities are:1. Hong Kong;2. Bangkok;3. London;4. Singapore;5. Macau;6. Dubai;7. Paris;8. New York;9. Shenzhen;10. Kuala Lumpur.Source: Euromonitor International