Top 20 Global Destination Cities of 2013

It is always around this time when Mastercard Worldwide publishes their Top Global Destination Cities index each year. We got some travel ideas from their Top 20 travel destination cities in the world of 2012 last year, and we can’t wait to see what could have changed this year in 2013.

Spearheaded by MasterCard, this destination cities index listed out the top travel destination cities, as opposed to countries in UNWTO’s report, after collecting data on visitor traffic and cross-border travel spend in 132 cities around the globe. If you haven’t got a clue to which city you are planning for your next holidays, check out this list of popular cities where most travelers around the world are falling for.

Here is the list of Global Top 20 Destination Cities in terms of International Overnight Visitors received in year 2012:

1. Bangkok ( with 15.98 million international overnight visitors)
2. London (15.96 million)
3. Paris (13.92 mil)
4. Singapore (11.75 mil)
5. New York (11.52 mil)
6. Istanbul (10.37 mil)
7. Dubai (9.89 mil)
8. Kuala Lumpur (9.20 mil)
9. Hong Kong (8.72 mil)
10. Barcelona (8.41 mil)
11. Seoul (8.19 mil)
12. Milan (6.83 mil)
13. Rome (6.71 mil)
14. Shanghai (6.50 mil)
15. Amsterdam (6.35 mil)
16. Tokyo (5.80 mil)
17. Vienna (5.37 mil)
18. Taipei (5.19 mil)
19. Riyadh (5.05 mil)
20. Los Angeles (4.84 mil)

We can’t see much difference in the above list if compared with the same index last year. All the top 20 cities listed are famous and popular travel destinations as we all know about. Perhaps the biggest surprise came from the top spot, which was dominated by London in previous years, and now taken over by Bangkok this year. Bangkok has to become the first Asian city to top the ranking with 15.98 Million international overnight visitors since the Index was launched in 2010.

Of the top 20 cities in the list, I’m considered lucky enough to have visited 12 of them, and Bangkok and Taipei are in fact my next upcoming holiday destinations.

This list is preferred over the UNWTO’s list of Top 10 countries to visit since we are more concerned about cities over countries when traveling. Off course, since they are so popular, they are normally occupied by tourists more than the local people most of the time. This is something we do not want to see. So exploring off the beaten track to other cities next to them could be another option.

You can read the full article from Mastercard’s Global Destination Cities Index. 🙂 – Travel Feeder

About The Author

Cecil Lee

The author is an avid traveler and photography hobbyist who loves to share with others his travel and photo-taking experience in many popular tourist destinations around Europe, Asia and Australasia. Read the exciting stories with many photos captured on his journeys.