Sydney’s tourism numbers may be growing and Singapore may still be one of the more popular stopovers but when it comes to the most visited cities in Asia Pacific it’s still Bangkok.
Thailand’s capital landed the number one spot as the Top Destination in terms of visitor numbers out of 171 destination across the region.
According to the Mastercard Asia-Pacific Destinations Index 2017, Bangkok received some 19.3 million international overnight arrivals in 2016, placing it ahead of the 13.1 million that visited second place Singapore in the same year.
Out of the total 339.2 million people that travelled to Asia Pacific last year, around 12.6 million went to Tokyo (3rd place), 12.4 visited Seoul (4th) and 11.3 million made it to Kuala Lumpur (5th).
Although Australian cities missed out on the 10 Top Destinations across APAC list, Sydney did manage to land the second place for Top 10 Asia Pacific Destinations Ranked by Total Nights Stayed.
Some 87.5 million nights were spent in the Harbour City, just short of the 87.6 million that stayed in Bangkok.
Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Governor said: “Bangkok once again takes top place in the Mastercard listing, showing how attractive the city is to tourists and business travellers who visit knowing they’ll find a city that will impress and meet their needs.”
“Whether they are just passing through or want to explore the amazing shopping, food scene, history and entertainment, visitors find that in this most exciting of destinations, there’s something for everyone.”
Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor