Paris has again been named the world’s top city destination, according to a study that rates cities for tourism, sustainability, and economic performance.
It’s the third year in a row that the French capital has scooped the top spot in Euromonitor International’s Top 100 City Destinations ranking, produced by comparing 55 metrics across six ‘key pillars’ – economic and business performance; tourism performance; tourism infrastructure; tourism policy and attractiveness; health and safety, and sustainability.
Following Paris, the report places Dubai second, the Spanish capital of Madrid third and Tokyo fourth – with the Japanese capital in the top 10 for the first time thanks to improved developments in tourism infrastructure. Amsterdam rounds off the top five.
Meanwhile, London, the top-ranking UK city, drops four places to 10th. That’s two places behind New York, which has climbed two places to eighth, but far ahead of the next British entry – Edinburgh, which ranks 62nd.
The rest of the top ten comprises Berlin (sixth), Rome (seventh) and Barcelona (ninth).
Paris has again been named the world’s top city destination by Euromonitor International
European destinations feature prominently for 2023, with an impressive 12 cities in the top 20, and 63 in the top 100.
In contrast, the only other U.S city in the top 20 aside from New York is Los Angeles, in at 19th.
Down Under, Sydney places much better than last year, climbing an impressive ten places from No.32, to No.22, while Melbourne also climbed ten spots, from No.34, to No.24.
Sandwiched in the middle of the two Australian cities in the ranking is Istanbul (23rd).
Newcomers to this year’s list are Washington DC (48th), Montreal (68th), Santiago in Chile (88th) and Lithuania’s Vilnius (92nd).
London is the top-ranking UK city, way ahead of Edinburgh, which ranks 62nd
New York has climbed two places to eighth. It’s the top-ranking American city
Dubai comes second based on 55 metrics across ‘key pillars’ such as sustainability and attractiveness, and tourism infrastructure
At the very bottom of the ranking is the capital of Oman, Muscat, with Cairo just above in 99th place.
Nadejda Popova, Senior Manager (Loyalty) at Euromonitor International, said: ‘Paris has retained the title of the world’s leading city following exceptional performance across the “pillars”.’
Looking at travel and tourism for the years ahead, she said: ‘Rising costs of living, which trigger lower consumer confidence, and fluctuating inflation are expected to be the biggest challenges for the growth of the industry in 2024 and 2025, especially if global recession unveils.
‘Consumers are expected to look for value-for-money travel propositions when booking travel and will continue to favour authentic and local experiences in addition to sustainable tourism alternatives.’
The report reveals that international travel has continued to make a strong recovery in 2023, with a 38 per cent growth in terms of number of trips, projected to reach 1.3billion by the end of the year.
The Spanish capital of Madrid places third in a year when global tourism spending is set to reach $1.7trillion (£1.3trillion)
The Japanese capital, Tokyo, is in the top 10 for the first time thanks to improved developments in tourism infrastructure
Egypt’s capital Cairo comes a lowly 99th, just above Muscat in Oman, which is at the very bottom of the table
Global tourism spending is set to reach $1.7trillion (£1.3trillion) in 2023.
According to the report, compiled in conjunction with data company Lighthouse, Istanbul is the most popular foreign destination globally, with international arrivals numbering 20.2million – an increase of 26 per cent compared to 2022.
Next comes London, with 18.8million arrivals, followed by Dubai (16.8million).
An important milestone for the recovery of the industry in 2023, the study says, has been the return of Chinese international travel, following the removal of the governmental quarantine.
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