Big Cities, Big Business: Bangkok, London and Paris Lead the Way in Mastercard’s 2018 Global Destination Cities Index
September 25 2018 - 12:01AM
Business Wire
Mastercard brings together tourism and city
partners to improve experiences for visitors
In a world of rising nationalism, international travel takes on
greater importance—breaking down barriers, broadening our horizons
and driving economic impact felt throughout the world’s cities. For
the past decade, Mastercard’s Global Destination Cities Index has
offered important analysis of travel to and within cities. This
year’s top cities are Bangkok, London and Paris, once again
underscoring the importance of robust infrastructure, both business
and leisure attractions and strong local culture.
The Mastercard Index, which expanded this year to look at 162
cities, is not simply a ranking of the top travel destinations.
Based on visitor volume and spend for the 2017 calendar year, the
in-depth analysis also provides a growth forecast for 2018 and—for
the first time—a view into average length of stay and amount spent
per day.
With the global economy buzzing, the annual growth of
international overnight visitors to the Top 10 destination cities
was up in 2017 except for Seoul, which saw a dip. The forecast for
2018 indicates across-the-board growth, with Istanbul expecting the
largest uptick in visitors.
With roughly 20 million international overnight visitors,
Bangkok remains in the top spot this year and is unlikely to be
bested due to strong projected growth of 9.6 percent for 2018.
Interestingly, visitors tend to stay in Bangkok 4.7 nights and
spend $173 per day, on average.
The Global Top 10 Destination Cities
2017 International OvernightVisitors
GrowthForecast for2018
AverageLength ofStay
AverageSpend PerDay (USD)
Bangkok 20.05 million 9.6% 4.7
nights $173 London 19.83 million
3.0% 5.8 nights $153 Paris 17.44
million 2.9% 2.5 nights $301 Dubai
15.79 million 5.5% 3.5 nights
$537 Singapore 13.91 million 4.0%
4.3 nights $286 New York 13.13
million 4.1% 8.3 nights $147 Kuala Lumpur
12.58 million 7.5% 5.5 nights
$124 Tokyo 11.93 million 1.6%
6.5 nights $154 Istanbul 10.70
million 19.7% 5.8 nights $108 Seoul
9.54 million 6.1% 4.2 nights
$181
However, not all cities are created equal when it comes to the
amount visitors spend in the local economy. Dubai continues to be
the top ranking destination city based on overnight visitor spend,
a whopping $537 per day on average. It is joined in the Top 10 with
newcomers Makkah, Saudi Arabia, which debuts in the number two
spot, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and Phuket, Thailand. Of the most
visited cities, Istanbul comes in with the lowest spend per day at
$108 on average.
Top Cities by Dollars Spent
2017 International Overnight Visitor
Spend(USD)
Forecast for2018
Average Spendby Day (USD)
Dubai $29.70 billion 7.8% $537
Makkah $18.45 billion 7.4% $135
London $17.45 billion 13.7% $153
Singapore $17.02 billion 7.4%
$286 Bangkok $16.36 billion 13.8%
$173 New York $16.10 billion
4.1% $147 Paris $13.05 billion
16.0% $301 Palma de Mallorca $11.96
billion 16.2% $220 Tokyo $11.91
billion 7.8% $154 Phuket $10.46
billion 12.6% $239
“International travel is crucial to many
urban economies, enriching the lives of both residents and
tourists. The bar is rising for cities to innovate to provide both
a memorable and authentic experience,”
said Miguel Gamiño Jr., executive vice president,
global cities for Mastercard. “We’re partnering closely with
cities around the world to ensure they have insights and
technologies to improve how they attract and cater to tourists
while preserving what makes them so special in the first
place.”
Whether people visit cities for business or leisure, Mastercard
works with a broad range of partners, including tourism bodies,
urban planners, banks and merchants to:
- Identify and address urban
challenges through scalable solutions in digital inclusion and
economic development; Mastercard recently launched City Possible, a
global platform for cities, research institutions and private
sector organizations to address common challenges through
collaboration
- Simplify access to key urban services
such as public transportation; in over 100 cities (and
growing), visitors and locals can use the contactless Mastercard
they already carry to access trains and buses
- Help people traverse the globe with
peace of mind, providing seamless planning, conveniences and
connectivity at their destination and worry-free acceptance at
millions of locations around the globe
- Create unique experiences across food,
entertainment and shopping in 42 Priceless Cities around the globe,
including Bangkok, London, Paris and many others throughout the
Index
About the Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index
The Mastercard Index of Global Destination Cities ranks cities
in terms of the number of their total international overnight
visitor arrivals and the cross-border spending by these same
visitors in the destination cities in 2017, and gives international
overnight visitor growth forecasts for 2018.
Public data is used in deriving the international overnight
visitor arrivals and their cross-border spending in each of the 162
destination cities.
Forecasts are based upon the weighted average of the national
level tourism forecasts and the actual 2018 monthly data at the
destination level, which is available to the latest month before
release.
This Index and the accompanying reports are not based on
Mastercard volumes or transactional data.
About Mastercard
Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology
company in the global payments industry. We operate the world’s
fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers,
financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in
more than 210 countries and territories. Mastercard products and
solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping,
traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more
secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter
@MastercardNews, join the discussion on the Beyond the Transaction
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Mastercard CommunicationsJulia Monti, +1
914-217-9533Julia.monti@mastercard.com
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