The Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index 2019, released this week, ranks 200 cities based on how many international overnight visitors they’re set to receive this year, based on actual 2019 monthly data and the weighted average of national-level tourism forecasts.
The index shows the number of international overnight visitors in these cities growing by a whopping 76% since 2009 — but in recent years, the trends look pretty similar.
For the fourth year in a row, Bangkok is the No. 1 most popular city on Mastercard’s Global Destination Cities Index.
In 2018, the Thai capital welcomed 22.78 million international overnight visitors, with 3.34% growth forecast for 2019.
London was the only city on the current top 10 that saw a visitor decline year-over-year — a nearly 4% drop.
Asia-Pacific cities have seen the largest regional increase in international travelers since 2009, with a more than 9% increase spurred by rising numbers of mainland Chinese travelers.
Here are the 19 most visited cities around the world in 2019, ranked in ascending order by the total number of international visitors they’re set to receive.
