Top 10 World Cities for Overnight Stays 2017

PHOTO: Bangkok, the world city attracting the most overnight stays

Where is the world traveling and where are they staying overnight? There is a big move towards Asia in the latest figures out of the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index 2017.

Travel and tourism in Asia Pacific is showing no signs of slowing down, with the region dominating visitor arrivals once again.

Asia Pacific destinations are also tracking the highest amount of international overnight visitor spending among its top 10 cities. Bringing in $91.16 billion USD in travel expenditure in 2016, Asia Pacific outpaced Europe ($74.74 billion USD), and North America ($55.02 billion USD).

Ranking the world’s 132 top destination cities, the Index analyzes visitor volume and spend for the 2016 calendar year and provides a forecast for annual growth, insights on the fastest growing destination cities, and a deeper understanding of why people travel and how they spend around the world.

“As the fastest growing region for international tourism, Asia Pacific’s travel sector will no doubt continue to serve as a key source of in-market economic growth and development. The rise of leisure and business travel across the region presents a vital imperative for governments and private stakeholders to invest in smart networks and infrastructures that provide seamless experiences for residents, tourists and business travelers.” – Eric Schneider, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, Mastercard Advisors

International overnight visitors to the Top 10 destination cities were up from 2016. According to the Index, Bangkok tracked 19.41 million visitors, while London came in a close second with 19.06 million visitors. Singapore (13.11 million visitors) inched past New York (12.7 million visitors) into fifth position for the first time in three years, while Seoul (12.39 million visitors) leapfrogged three spots into seventh place.

Home to half of the world’s top ten most visited cities, Asia Pacific’s success as a global travel hub has been supported by strong intra-regional travel. Both Singapore and Seoul tracked significant growth, aided by visitors from neighboring countries, particularly those from China. In the Index’s eight-year history, China has grown from being passive contributors to the region’s travel sector to the main driver of growth for visitor arrivals into Asia Pacific’s top destinations.

Overall, forecasts for continued growth in 2017 are positive except for New York, with Tokyo expecting the largest boom.

PHOTO: New York, still in the Top Ten but slowly losing its visitors to Asian destinations.