Bangkok on the list of top Global City Destinations
For the second year in a row, Bangkok is predicted to be the world’s second top destination and the number one in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) quoted the newly-released MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index that 18.24 million visitors are expected to spend time in the Thai capital in 2015. London ranked top city for the world with 18.82 million visitors.
The TAT Acting Governor and Deputy Governor for International Marketing, Juthaporn Rerngronasa, said that Thailand is seeing a strong recovery in all tourist markets. She thanked all concerned parties and stakeholders for their tireless efforts in building and reiterating the image of Bangkok, Thailand’s main gateway, as one of the world’s most popular tourist cities that is complete with both modern conveniences and old charms.
The MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index provides a ranking of the 132 most visited cities from around the world, in terms of international overnight visitor arrivals and spending. On the global scale for 2015, Paris ranked third with 16.06 million visitors, Dubai came fourth with 14.26 million visitors, and Istanbul was in fifth place with 12.56 million visitors.
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When compared with other destination cities in Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok retained its position at number one, followed by Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, and Hong Kong. This ranking has remained unchanged since 2013 when the Thai capital became the first Asian city to top the global list.
In terms of spending, Bangkok ranked seventh in the world and third in Asia-Pacific, with US$12.36 billion projected in international visitor expenditure for 2015.
Juthaporn said, "This ranking as well as a number of awards and honors that Thailand and various Thai destinations, including Bangkok, have received so far this year will certainly motivate us to work harder to welcome tourists.
"Under our 2015 Discover Thainess campaign, we hope to share with all our international guests the Thai way of happiness through the various aspects of Thainess; such as, Thai food, Thai arts, Thai wellness, and Thai festivities.”
Thailand expects to welcome a total of 28 million visitors generating an estimated US$ 42 billion (1.4 trillion baht) in 2015.