Old favourites continue to reign while new destinations surprise us in the latest list of 15 most visited cities around the world.
MasterCard has released the annual Global Destinations Cities Index ranking the top 132 most frequented cities in 2015.
The list is driven by insights into travel patterns and according to MasterCard research will see nearly 383 million overnight trips made by international visitors between the country’s listed in 2015.
This represents a massive demand for goods, services and experiences as they spend at total of US$360 billion during their visits.
Unfortunately, Australian cities didn’t land a spot in the top 15 this year, however, our very own Sydney was ranked 17th in the top 20 destination cities by international overnight visitor spend, with an estimated $6.15 billion.
London retained its position as the top-ranked international travel destination for the fifth time in seven years.
The city is projected to receive 18.82 million international visitors in 2015, just slightly ahead of second-ranked Bangkok.
The two destinations have topped the Index throughout its history.
Turkey’s Istanbul surprised us by jumping up two spots to number five this year. Growing in popularity for its culture and food, it is expected to welcome some 12.56 million visitors, up from 11.27 million last year.
Istanbul’s rise saw New York drop to sixth place this year, with some 12.27 million expected arrivals.
Singapore also fell from its sixth spot last year to seventh this year, with 11.88 million visitors.
Check out the other destinations to make the top 15 this year.
15. Milan, Italy
14. Rome, Italy
13. Amsterdam, Netherlands
Image: S-F/Shutterstock
12. Barcelona, Spain
11. Tokyo, Japan
10. Hong Kong, China
New images showcasing the new Hong Kong brand.
9. Seoul, Korea
8. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Image: Volga/Shutterstock
7. Singapore, Singapore
6. New York, USA
5. Istanbul, Turkey
4. Dubai, UAE
3. Paris, France
2. Bangkok, Thailand
1. London, United Kingdom
