For the second year in a row, Bangkok is set to be the most popular city in the world for international travellers.
According to a report by the financial services corporation Mastercard, the Thai capital is projected to welcome nearly 20.2 million international overnight visitors this year.
London, the former No.1 destination, keeps its No. 2 spot for the second consecutive year, with more than 20 million arrivals expected.
Paris is in third place with 16.1 million international visitors projected, Dubai fourth with 16 million, and Singapore fifth with nearly 13.5 million.
Dubai tops the ranking for visitor spending; last year its 14.9 million international overnight visitors spent $28.5 billion, with 10.2% growth forecast this year. New York comes in second in the spending stakes, and London third. Bangkok is at No. 5, with $14.08 billion expected to be shelled out by visitors this year - but its projected growth rate of 10.9% is the highest of the top five.
Across a total of 132 destination cities, the number of international overnight arrivals has increased by more than 55% since 2009 – considerably outpacing GDP growth during that period.
