London will be the top destination of choice for a lot of tourists this year, according to research published a few days ago by MasterCard . According to this research, London will receive 20.1 million tourists who will arrive throughout the rest of the year. This figure is just over the 18,100,000 in Paris.
Bangkok is expected to welcome the third highest number of visitors, followed by Singapore and Hong Kong. Eight of the largest cities in Asia-Pacific are among the top 20 global destinations for research. By contrast, MasterCard has explained that only one US city will be one of the most visited in the world this year: New York. The city is ranked 12th and will welcome some 7.6 million passengers.
Perhaps the Big Apple can take the consolation that visitors who come to it will spend more than 20 billion dollars, more than any other city except London, which will receive about 25.6 billion dollars from its visitors. MasterCard also investigated the growth of visitors in Spanish cities such as Barcelona, which will increase their visits by 24.3%, followed by Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul.
MasterCard has conducted these investigations and, we could say, predictions, by analyzing airline schedules and United Nations figures regarding expenses. The top 10 positions on the list are finally for:
1.- London (20.1 million)
2.- Paris (18.1)
3.- Bangkok (11.5)
4.- Singapore (11.4)
5.- Hong Kong (10.9)
6.- Madrid (10.1)
7.- Istanbul (9.4)
8.- Frankfurt (8.4)
9.- Dubai (7.9)
10.- Rome (7.9)