HCM City one of the world’s 10 cities with fastest tourism development
HCM City one of the world’s 10 cities with fastest tourism development
In the MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities, HCM City ranks 10th of 132 cities worldwide.
It measured the number of international tourists and the overnight spending of tourists in 2015.
The figures are based on data from travel agencies, flights to and from of each country, and the number of hotel room prepaid reservations.
London ranked first for the second consecutive time of the cities that are expected to attract the highest number of tourists in 2015, with 18.820 million.
In the next spot was Bangkok, with 18.24 million visitors.
Bangkok lost the top position to London in 2013, mainly due to political unrest. According to the latest report, Thailand's capital city is showing signs of recovery and will narrow the gap with London.
(Table) The Top 10 cities expected to attract the most tourists in 2015:
For personal spending abroad by overnight tourists, London also remained number 1, with anticipated spending of tourists of up to $20.23 billion in 2015.
The runner up was New York, with $17.37 billion, and the third Paris, with $16.61 billion.
(Table) Top 10 cities with highest spending by foreign tourists in 2015:
London and Bangkok have been at the top positions for the last five years.
Many Asian cities are also named. Of the 10 global destinations, there are five Asian cities, including Bangkok (2), Singapore (7), Kuala Lumpur (8), Seoul (9) and Hong Kong (10).
(Table) Top 10 cities for fastest tourism growth:
Although the tourism industry in Asia is booming, the report indicates that there is a lack of diversity in tourist resources in some Asian cities.
The top five groups of tourists to Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are mainly from the Asia-Pacific region. In Asia, Istanbul is the city attracting the most diverse tourists, from 33 countries.
In the list of cities with the fastest tourism development, HCM City ranks 10th with 2015 growth rate forecasted at 12.9%. Topping the list was Sri Lanka's Colombo with 21.1%.
