By
Travelmail Reporter
08:02 EST, 27 May 2013
|
11:06 EST, 27 May 2013
Bangkok is tipped for destination stardom this year in terms of visitor arrivals, according to research.
The Thai capital pipped London, Paris, Singapore and New York to the top place in the Global Destination Cities Index forecast, which looks at 132 locations around the world.
The research – compiled annually by Mastercard – makes its predictions based on visitor numbers and estimated spend.
World stage: A report has predicted that Bangkok will see the highest number of visitors in 2013
Research suggests that Bangkok will see a total of 15.98 million arrivals in 2013, closely followed by London at 15.96 million.
This year is the first that an Asian city has made it to the number one position with Bangkok seeing visitor number growth rates of more than 18 per cent in 2011 and 2012, and 9.8 per cent this year, the report added.
Other top ten cities include Istanbul, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Barcelona respectively.
Paris – placed third on the index – is the only city in the top 20 to experience a drop (-0.7) in estimated visitor numbers this year, according to the study.
In addition to Bangkok, Istanbul and Dubai showed the most robust growth increase in arrival numbers.
Mastercard predicted that if the top 10 destination cities continued with their current growth rates “by 2016 Istanbul will surpass Singapore, New York and Paris in terms of international visitor arrivals; and Dubai will similarly surpass Singapore and New York in 2016 and Paris in 2017.”
The report added that Bangkok’s top five ‘feeder cities’ – where the most international visitors come from – were Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul. It also noted the city’s growth in air travel connectivity.
Snapping at its heels: London, with its Olympic afterglow, was beaten into second place
Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, MasterCard Global Economic Advisor and author of the report, said: “Bangkok brought with it great momentum from last year. Its ascent to number one is not only a first for Asia, it’s emblematic of the rise of the Global South which encompasses much of Africa and Asia as well as South America.”
He concluded: “To the extent that the destination cities succeed in attracting more international visitors, there is the inevitable pressure on improving public infrastructure and facilities.
“With the right policy responses, a virtuous circle can be set in motion: more international visitors leading to more and better investment to improve the cityscape and the overall urban environment, which in turn makes the destination city more attractive to more international visitors.”
Ann Cairns, MasterCard President of International Markets, added: “With the dominance of the Asia/Pacific region, this year’s index reflects the rebalance that the globe is undergoing in large part because of the rise of emerging markets.”
According to official figures, Thailand saw a total of 22,353,903 tourist arrivals last year, 873,053 of which were British.
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Bangkok set to be number one city for international visitors in 2013, report predicts
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