Bangkok pips London in destination rankings
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Bangkok has narrowly beaten London as the world's top tourism destination in terms of visitor arrivals, according to the "MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index 2013". Paris, Singapore and New York fill the next three places.
In Asia, Bangkok is followed in the rankings by Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo.
The MasterCard study was conducted in 132 cities, with collated data from private and government sectors worldwide from last year through to the end of March this year.
It also collected data on travellers’ spending from their arrival in a city destination, as well as cross-border expenditure. It was not based on MasterCard volume or transactional data.
Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, global economic adviser for MasterCard, said Bangkok was the first Asian city to retain the top position in the three-year history of the study.
Some 42 Asian cities were included in the rankings, reflecting the rise of emerging markets, he said. He added that cheaper travel packages available for visitors to Bangkok were not the key factor putting the city at the top of the list, as many cities worldwide now also offered affordable packages.
The crucial factor is the many natural and man-made tourism spots on offer in and around Bangkok, and the fact that many travellers choose to make repeat visits, he suggested.
Moreover, he described Bangkok as a balanced city, that is, one that not only attract tourists from neighbouring nations, but also worldwide. This is a crucial competitive advantage.
Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra expressed his delight that Bangkok had maintained its top ranking, which he said was a great achievement.
He said his administration continued to put a major effort into securing the capital’s tourism standards in the long term by improving basic infrastructure such as convenient transport, food hygiene and also physical security.
He added that though a bomb blast had injured a number of people in the Ramkhamhaeng area of the city on Sunday, it had not immediately damaged Bangkok’s image as a safe city.
He stressed that such an incident could these days happen in any city, and the after-effects depended on how the authorities controlled the situation.
The MasterCard study estimated that Bangkok had welcomed 15.98 million foreign visitors for at least one overnight stay during the 12-month period covered by the survey, followed by London with 15.96 million, Paris (13.92 million), Singapore (11.75 million) and New York (11.52 million).
In terms of spending, New York retained its top ranking with US$18.6 billion (Bt555 billion) spent by foreign tourists, followed by London with $16.3 billion and Paris with $14.6 billion.
Bangkok came next with $14.3 billion, followed by Singapore with $13.5 billion.
In Asia/Australasia, Bangkok and Singapore were followed by Tokyo with $12.7 billion, Seoul ($10.8 billion), Sydney ($10.4 billion), Taipei ($8.1 billion), Kuala Lumpur ($7.8 billion), Shanghai ($6.9 billion), Hong Kong ($6.3 billion) and Melbourne ($5.9 bn).
