Bangkok tops in 2018 for international visitors: Report

NEW YORK  - Bangkok ranked first in 2018 for the fourth straight year as the city with the most international visitors, according to an annual report by Mastercard released on Wednesday (Sept 4).

With almost 23 million international visitors last year, the Thai capital outpaced both Paris and London, which were second and third with just over 19 million visitors.

Other top cities in order were: Dubai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, New York, Istanbul, Tokyo and Antalya, Turkey.

The report pointed to broad increases in international travel, with the total number of international visits up 76 per cent since 2009.

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Nine of the top 10 cities saw increases in 2018 compared with the prior year.

London was the exception, with a drop of 4 per cent.

Dubai topped the list as far as consumption, with travellers spending an average of US$553 (S$765) per day and visitors spending a total of nearly US$31 billion.

Mecca, Saudi Arabia and Bangkok were second and third as far as spending.

Established in 2011, the Global Destination Cities ranks 200 cities based on visitor arrivals and cross-border spending.