Top 100 Cities Destination Ranking

Global market research company Euromonitor International is pleased to release its Top 100 Cities Destination ranking, a list of the world’s top cities in terms of international tourist arrivals in 2011.

The rebound in global economic growth in 2011 contributed to stronger tourism demand, positively impacting results for the top 100 cities, with arrivals increasing 7%.  Emerging city destinations located in Asia Pacific performed well thanks to a strong economic environment and intra-regional demand.

Hong Kong topped the ranking with more than 20 million arrivals in 2011, a nine percent increase over 2010. Hong Kong remains largely dependent on arrivals from China, but new themed events organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board helped draw in visitors from other Asian countries this year. Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand all registered double-digit growth in the number of trips to Hong Kong.

Singapore and London kept their 2010 positions as number two and three on the list, recording nearly 20 million arrivals and 15 million arrivals, respectively. Singapore’s growth was driven primarily by large events like the Great Singapore Sales, Formula One Grand Prix and TravelRave, while London benefited from a wide mix of entertainment options and its position as Europe’s best connected city.

“While many cities maintained their previous rankings, Vietnam showed a particularly strong performance with Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi experiencing over 40% growth for the second consecutive year,” explains Caroline Bremner, Head of Travel and Tourism Research at Euromonitor International. “Although Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will continue to be top tourist attractions in Vietnam, future demand is likely to be driven by other Vietnamese cities including Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc emerging as international tourists look to discover more new places.”

Euromonitor International foresees an even stronger growth for arrivals in 2012. Because uncertainty in the global economy still exists, especially in the US and Europe, future growth will be driven by Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Less visa restrictions will further encourage tourism flows over 2012-2016.

Top City Destinations Ranking 2011
Country	City	Rank	2011 Arrivals (000s)	2011 Growth (%)
Hong Kong, China	Hong Kong	1	21830.2	8.8
Singapore	Singapore	2	19818.1	8.7
United Kingdom	London	3	15106.1	2.7
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	4	13315.4	16.0
China	Macau	5	12925.2	8.4
Thailand	Bangkok	6	12357.4	12.5
Turkey	Antalya	7	12052.4	13.3
China	Shenzhen	8	10894.6	6.8
USA	New York City	9	10038.0	3.5
Turkey	Istanbul	10	9765.2	20.2
China	Guangzhou	11	8875.5	8.9
France	Paris	12	8403.5	3.5
United Arab Emirates	Dubai	13	7741.0	-0.1
China	Shanghai	14	6911.7	-5.8
USA	Miami	15	6461.8	7.1
Saudi Arabia	Mecca	16	6412.1	4.7
Thailand	Pattaya	17	6002.9	10.5
Italy	Rome	18	5966.2	4.5
USA	Las Vegas	19	5387.1	4.2
Spain	Barcelona	20	5366.4	4.0
Taiwan	Taipei	21	5256.6	51.3
China	Beijing	22	5152.7	5.1
USA	Los Angeles	23	4918.4	8.1
Thailand	Phuket	24	4893.9	9.5
Hungary	Budapest	25	4376.9	8.5
Netherlands	Amsterdam	26	4201.9	12.8
Russia	Moscow	27	4170.0	11.5
USA	Orlando	28	3825.2	4.1
Czech Republic	Prague	29	3759.5	0.0
Germany	Berlin	30	3711.3	7.5
Austria	Vienna	31	3690.0	4.8
Turkey	Mugla	32	3592.1	11.9
Vietnam	Ho Chi Minh	33	3533.3	45.1
Spain	Madrid	34	3431.0	0.8
Ukraine	Kiev	35	3371.7	6.6
Poland	Warsaw	36	3351.2	35.0
Ireland	Dublin	37	3250.0	-6.7
Egypt	Cairo	38	3248.9	-35.0
Turkey	Edirne	39	3181.3	9.3
China	Zhuhai	40	3179.9	-2.2
India	Chennai	41	3174.5	14.0
China	Hangzhou	42	3148.7	14.2
Argentina	Buenos Aires	43	2967.7	9.2
USA	San Francisco	44	2924.3	2.9
Russia	St Petersburg	45	2900.0	16.0
South Korea	Seoul	46	2857.1	1.7
Mexico	Mexico City	47	2847.4	3.7
Japan	Tokyo	48	2748.2	-28.0
Canada	Toronto	49	2737.4	0.3
India	Delhi	50	2702.6	15.0
Australia	Sydney	51	2626.0	0.2
Indonesia	Denpasar	52	2559.5	0.5
Mexico	Cancún	53	2492.9	9.1
Peru	Lima	54	2442.4	30.0
China	Suzhou	55	2365.8	14.0
Romania	Bucharest	56	2350.0	10.0
India	Mumbai	57	2349.0	7.0
Belgium	Brussels	58	2285.0	2.1
Dominican Republic	Punta Cana	59	2232.9	11.0
South Africa	Johannesburg	60	2180.3	8.4
Germany	Munich	61	2134.6	4.0
France	Nice	62	2134.1	2.6
New Zealand	Auckland	63	2100.0	7.7
Portugal	Lisbon	64	2099.8	5.4
India	Agra	65	2085.4	15.0
Italy	Milan	66	2074.5	4.8
India	Jaipur	67	2061.7	16.0
Morocco	Marrakech	68	2052.3	1.2
Egypt	Sharm el Sheikh	69	2005.2	-21.6
Saudi Arabia	East Province	70	1996.5	6.4
Syria	Damascus	71	1988.1	-18.4
Canada	Vancouver	72	1894.3	-6.6
Indonesia	Jakarta	73	1893.2	0.3
Bulgaria	Burgas	74	1859.7	7.7
Syria	Aleppo	75	1856.5	-12.3
Italy	Venice	76	1832.7	4.7
Philippines	Manila	77	1821.5	23.0
Italy	Florence	78	1817.2	4.5
Bulgaria	Varna	79	1813.9	7.4
Kenya	Nairobi	80	1812.0	40.3
USA	Honolulu	81	1801.0	2.8
Greece	Athens	82	1786.6	2.0
Vietnam	Hanoi	83	1750.0	41.5
New Zealand	Christchurch	84	1735.0	-0.5
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	85	1725.0	6.3
Brazil	Rio de Janeiro	86	1722.7	7.0
China	Guilin	87	1698.9	14.3
Australia	Melbourne	88	1677.0	14.4
Brazil	São Paulo	89	1648.0	3.0
Thailand	Chiang Mai	90	1632.0	6.3
USA	Washington DC	91	1615.8	2.6
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh	92	1610.1	6.5
Azerbaijan	Baku	93	1589.9	8.6
Turkey	Izmir	94	1532.9	27.1
China	Nanjing	95	1497.9	14.4
Bulgaria	Sofia-City & Greater Area	96	1468.0	9.7
Kyrgyzstan	Issyk-Kulskaya Oblast	97	1450.5	57.6
Belarus	Minsk	98	1437.7	2.8
India	Kolkatta	99	1431.6	9.0
Switzerland	Zurich	100	1424.0	3.3

Michelle Grant, travel and tourism research manager at Euromonitor International discusses key findings from the list

View previous rankings

Top 100 Cities Destination Ranking 2010
Top 100 Cities Destination Ranking 2009
Top 100 Cities Destination Ranking 2008
Top 150 Cities Destination Ranking 2006

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Annual research programme

Euromonitor International's Top City Destinations Ranking (2011 edition) was built from the results of the global travel research programme conducted in 57 core countries by in-country analysts, which follows Euromonitor International’s methodology and definitions for travel and tourism.

City arrivals data was sourced directly from national statistics offices, airport arrivals, hotel/accommodation stays or other methods for all 57 core countries and 153 market insight countries under review.

Main secondary sources included governmental, inter-governmental and other official sources; national and international specialist trade press and trade associations; industry study groups and other semi-official sources; and reports published by major operators, travel retailers, online databases and the financial, business and mainstream press. Trade interviews were conducted with national tourist offices, trade associations and travel operators to fill gaps in secondary research.

Country data was then cross-checked on a regional basis by the regional research teams based in London, Vilnius, Chicago and Singapore. Examples of regional sources reviewed included TourMis and European Cities Marketing for Europe. Further top-down checks were conducted by the in-house global research team. Where irregularities were found between editions, supplementary research was conducted to confirm or amend those findings. Euromonitor International is satisfied that the results of the in-country research, coupled with the top-down global perspective, ensure that the Top City Destinations Ranking is robust with a high level of data validation.

It is important to note that the Top City Destinations Ranking is not an exhaustive list and that its purpose is to highlight leading cities gleaned from the findings of Euromonitor International’s annual research programme, with the emphasis on cities, rather than popular holiday resorts.

Research Method

Data Research Method	City
Airport Arrivals	Agra, Amsterdam, Chennai, Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkatta, Kuala Lumpur, Moscow, Mumbai, Punta Cana, Taipei
Airport Arrivals and Hotel/Accommodation	Buenos Aires, Cairo, Sharm el Sheikh
Hotel/Accommodation	Athens, Berlin, Cancún, Florence, Lima, Marrakech, Mexico City, Milan, Paris, Prague, Rome, Venice, Vienna
National Statistics Office	Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Barcelona, Beijing, Brussels, Budapest, Chiang Mai, Denpasar, Dubai, Dublin, Edinburgh, East Province, Guangzhou, Guilin, Hangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Jakarta, Las Vegas, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Macau, Madrid, Manila, Mecca, Miami, Minsk, Munich, Nanjing, New York City, Nice, Orlando, Pattaya, Phuket, Rio De Janeiro, Riyadh, San Francisco, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, Suzhou, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington DC, Zhuhai, Zurich
Other method	Aleppo, Antalya, Auckland, Baku, Bucharest, Burgas, Christchurch, Damascus, Edirne, Issyk-Kulskaya Oblast, Istanbul, Izmir, Johannesburg, Kiev, Mugla, Nairobi, Sofia-City & Greater Area, St Petersburg, Varna, Warsaw

Source: Euromonitor International

Chinese arrival inclusions

Overnight visitors from mainland China are included in the Hong Kong arrivals data. Overnight visitors from mainland China and Hong Kong are included in the Macau arrivals data. Overnight visitors from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are included in the Beijing arrivals data.

Footnotes

Country/City	Notes
All countries/cities	Exclude day trippers and domestic visitors
Singapore	Includes Malaysian citizens arriving by land
Saudi Arabia	Official data is for provinces only
Issyk-Kulskaya Oblast	Region surrounding the Issyk-Kul Lake

Source: Euromonitor International

Definitions

International arrivals by city includes visitors from abroad that arrive at the city under review as their first point of entry, and also includes those visitors to the city that arrived in the country via a different point of entry, but then go on to visit the city in question during their trip.

Arrivals refers to international tourists, ie any person visiting another country for at least 24 hours, for a period not exceeding 12 months, and staying in collective or private accommodation. Each arrival is counted separately and includes people travelling more than once a year and people visiting several countries during one holiday. Domestic visitors are excluded. This encompasses all purposes of visit, such as business, leisure and visiting friends and relatives.

Euromonitor International’s arrival figures exclude same-day visitors, transit and cruise passengers as this can distort arrival figures at important border crossings and cruise destinations respectively. It also excludes those in paid employment abroad. Students that stay in a country for a period of more than 12 months are excluded and are considered as temporary residents. Military personnel and transportation crew are excluded, along with displaced people because of war or natural disasters.

The ranking focuses on capital city hubs and tends to exclude beach and ski resorts that may enjoy high volumes of international visitors.

 

 

Comments

[Joe Mendonca]

I look forward to reading this report annually, however I'm surprised to see Syria - Damascus ranking at 71 , despite the conflict there, overtaking cities like Vancouver, Athen, Hanoi and Rio de Janeiro. The report also does not mention anything about he middle east uprising, which effected travel plans (including myself) and possibly stricken off most peoples 'places to visit' lists for now.

[Jamie Maynard]

Hi Joe,

Syria received 3.7 million international arrivals in 2011 (down 30% because of the conflict). It is a very popular destination for Middle Easterners and there are many expatriates that come back to visit. As a result, international arrivals to Damascus are significant despite experiencing an 18.4% decline in 2011. It is likely that arrivals in 2012 will be even lower because of the conflict.

Due to space constraints, we didn't touch upon the Arab Spring, but you can see the impact that it has had on Egyptian cities of Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh, which experienced declines of 35% and 22% respectively in 2011.

Please let us know if you have more questions, and thanks for reading!

[Patrick]

Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia, 4th is fantastic. Malaysia has little to offer (tourist attractions) but the food, hospitality and the warmth from the multi ethnics and cultures makes your day.

[Mike]

Philippines

I really believe this country has a lot to offer, from beaches to night parties.. With the its major cities Manila, Cebu, and Davao. . I think i will be back here in this beautiful country.

It's really more fun in the Philippines!! Love this.

[Husein M.]

Dubai is a growing destination city ...

[Mahaliah Andam]

It's more fun in the PHILIPPINES!

[Arnold]

Just a question. Is Hongkong data includes business trip visitors? Shenzhen is also in the top ten, and I frequently visit both country/city because of business visit rather than tourism.

[Jamie Maynard]

Hi Arnold,

Yes - This ranking includes business trip visitors as well.

[Sree]

Hi

While I am impressed with this data..and this does give me a lot of insights into my research, i couldn't help but notice that some of the best locations in India have not made their place into the list.
While I do see Agra up there (which got a lot of accolades after being featured in Slumdog..), the rest of the destinations I see are mostly big cities.

Because of this reason, I think only basing the statistics on number of arrivals would make the data skewed... Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi having the biggest International Airports in India, would obviously have higher arrivals. But are these the destinations the tourists actually intend to travel to? This is the important question that I guess this data does not reveal or shed light on.

Example: People arriving in Mumbai, may be keeping it as a pit stop en route to Goa or Madhya Pradesh. People travelling to Chennai may be keeping it as a pit stop en route to Pondicherry, or Kerala or Andaman Island.

[mauracusack]

This data can be viewed differently by a lot of people. The high rankings from China are simply because of business and truckloads of Chinese tourists crossing into Hong Kong just to "see it" and shop. They will stay only 1- 2 days and then go back. As regards the other cities in China well this is purely business. There is a very poor tourist infrastructure here for foreigners and in my opinion there is not a lot of nice spots to visit. The western concept of tourist holiday is completely different and has cultural high lights, food, interior travel, individualized travel ideas and of course a longer time span. I have seen this after 3 years in China. The Chinese simply show up to a spot, get out of the packed tourist bus, go en masse following a person with a flag, take photos to the 'spot'and then get back into the bus.. Personally I'd rather stay at home ..so quite a mis-leading article. Business and tourist visits are two very different concepts..not to mention a 1-3 day package tour is a very different concept to an immersion holiday