It’s not all croissants and ‘Emily in Paris’. New research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) shows that Paris is also the world’s most powerful city destination.
Undertaken in partnership with Oxford Economics, the research looked at key indicators such as traveller expenditure in a city, the contribution of a city’s tourism industry to GDP and tourism-related employment.
Though the City of Love topped the power list, WTTC expects Beijing to overtake Paris in the next 10 years.
“Major cities such as London, Paris and New York will remain global powerhouses, but over the next few years, Beijing, Shanghai, and Macau will be moving up the list of top city destinations,” WTTC president and CEO Julia Simpson said.
“Tourists will always have favourite cities that they will return to, but as other countries prioritise travel and tourism, we are going to see new and emerging destinations challenging the traditional favourites.”
The WTTC research also revealed that holidaymakers were starting to flock back to popular city destinations after the effects of the pandemic compelled many travellers to swap more crowded destinations for less busy places.
According to WTTC, Paris’s travel and tourism sector was worth US$36 billion in 2022, in terms of direct GDP contribution to the city.
Following Paris at the top of the list was Chinese capital Beijing, with a travel and tourism sector worth nearly US$33 billion a year.
Surprisingly, the next most powerful city destination was Orlando (Florida), whose travel and tourism sector was valued at US$31 billion in 2022.
Top 10 cities based on direct travel and tourism GDP in real terms for 2022 (USD):
- Paris – $35.65b
- Beijing – $32.62b
- Orlando – $31.1b
- Shanghai – $29.69b
- Las Vegas – $22.99b
- New York – $21.09b
- Tokyo – $17.97b
- Mexico City – $16.76b
- London – $14.92b
- Guangzhou – $13.15b
Top 10 cities based on predicted direct travel and tourism GDP in real terms for 2032 (USD):
- Beijing – $77.28b
- Shanghai – $70.88b
- Paris – $49.15b
- Orlando – $45b
- Las Vegas – $36.55b
- Guangzhou – $34.94b
- New York – $34.28b
- Macau – $33.33b
- Bangkok – $31.52b
- Tokyo – $29.94b
