HONG KONG: Hong Kong has retained the title of the world’s most visited city for the eighth consecutive year in Euromonitor International’s latest Top 100 City Destinations Ranking 2017 Edition.
Unveiled on Tuesday at the World Travel Market London, the report puts Bangkok in second place and London in third spot, and stresses the pivotal impact of the inexorable rise of Chinese outbound tourism.
In Asia, Bangkok, Singapore, Macau and Shenzhen presently trail Hong Kong; although Delhi is expected to see the strongest increase in growth in 2017, with 2.8 million more inbound arrivals compared to 2016.
Denpasar in Bali is also expected to grow sharply alongside other Indonesian cities in the wake of the waiving of visa requirements for Chinese visitors.
Although Shenzhen is the only mainland city in the top 10, five other Chinese cities appear in the ranking – Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Zhuhai and Guilin.
“Hong Kong remains the top city in the world as it benefits from its strategic location and relationship with China,” says Wouter Geerts, senior analyst at Euromonitor International.
“However, it saw growth dip in 2017 as relations with China were strained, but growth will pick up again from 2018 to 2025.
The top ten most visited cities are:
1. Hong Kong: 26.6 million visitors
2. Bangkok: 21.2 million visitors
3. London: 19.2 million visitors
4. Singapore: 16.6 million visitors
5. Macau: 15.4 million visitors
6. Dubai: 14.9 million visitors
7. Paris: 14.4 million visitors
8. New York: 12.7 million visitors
9. Shenzhen: 12.6 million visitors
10. Kuala Lumpur: 12.3 million visitors — SCMP
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