Connect with us

Culture

The 100 Most Popular City Destinations

Published

on

100 Most Popular City Destinations for Travel

The 100 Most Popular City Destinations

The pandemic has grounded many of us, but it can’t curb human wanderlust.

Cities like Hong Kong, Bangkok, and London have led city destination rankings for years, but movement within the ranks below them—revealed in the above infographic—help to highlight the intriguing travel trends happening before COVID-19.

With data from Euromonitor International’s 2019 travel report, we can uncover where travelers are likely headed once their passports are useful again. Pulling data from 400 cities, collected into mid-2019, the report encompasses millions of international travelers who stayed at their destination longer than 24 hours.

Here’s a closer look at where travelers are likely to touch down in post-pandemic life.

Not-So-Lonely At the Top

Although the top of this list has remained fairly stable in terms of rank in recent years, two cities have seen an impressive influx of travelers.

Paris and Istanbul both made significant gains between 2017 and 2019 with 20.6% and 37.2% growth in visitors respectively:

Note that only one North American city, New York City, is found in this top 10. As well, Asian cities account for half of the leading group, with two of the top 10 cities are located in China. Although Hong Kong leads the top 100 list, political turmoil led to a marked decline of international visitors of 4.2% from 2017 to 2019.

The largest rank changes in the top 10 were made by Macau and Istanbul, but the rise was subtle. Both cities gained two spots each between 2013 and 2018, though each had sizable traveler growth rates, with Macau growing by 19.0%.

RankCityCountryArrivals (Millions)5yr Rank ChangeGrowth ('17-19)
1Hong KongChina (SAR)29.26-4.2%
2BangkokThailand24.1715.1%
3LondonUnited Kingdom19.23-1.4%
4MacauChina (SAR)18.93219.0%
5SingaporeSingapore18.55-112.2%
6ParisFrance17.56-120.6%
7DubaiUAE15.923.4%
8New York CityUS13.6017.0%
9Kuala LumpurMalaysia13.4319.6%
10IstanbulTurkey13.43237.2%
11DelhiIndia12.653049.6%
12AntalyaTurkey12.44-140.6%
13ShenzhenChina12.20-52.0%
14MumbaiIndia10.592838.5%
15PhuketThailand10.558.4%
16RomeItaly10.07-38.3%
17TokyoJapan9.99159.3%
18PattayaThailand9.61-18.9%
19TaipeiTaiwan, China9.60-17.7%
20MeccaSaudi Arabia9.5710.3%
21GuangzhouChina9.00-50.1%
22PragueCzechia8.95-33.9%
23MedinaSaudi Arabia8.5510.7%
24SeoulSouth Korea8.43-1019.1%
25AmsterdamNetherlands8.35312.6%
26AgraIndia8.143852.6%
27MiamiUS8.12-76.9%
28OsakaJapan7.866936.2%
29Los AngelesUS7.50-77.8%
30ShanghaiChina7.48-77.8%
31Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam7.20631.6%
32DenpasarIndonesia7.191337.5%
33BarcelonaSpain6.71-611.6%
34Las VegasUS6.59-9-0.8%
35MilanItaly6.48-93.9%
36ChennaiIndia6.42755.8%
37ViennaAustria6.41-87.1%
38Johor BahruMalaysia6.40829.8%
39JaipurIndia6.382942.9%
40CancunMexico6.04171.8%
41BerlinGermany5.96-1010.1%
42CairoEgypt5.751855.1%
43AthensGreece5.731831.3%
44OrlandoUS5.55-108.7%
45MoscowRussia5.51-1024.4%
46VeniceItaly5.50-165.3%
47MadridSpain5.44-86.3%
48Ha LongVietnam5.291444.0%
49RiyadhSaudi Arabia5.27-90.9%
50DublinIreland5.21-129.4%
51FlorenceItaly5.06-153.9%
52Ha NoiVietnam4.692119.3%
53TorontoCanada4.5110.5%
54JohannesburgSouth Africa4.12-103.4%
55SydneyAustralia4.09112.1%
56MunichGermany4.06-711.0%
57JakartaIndonesia4.031730.9%
58BeijingChina4.00-253.8%
59St. PetersburgRussia4.00-1123.9%
60BrusselsBelgium3.94-1324.8%
61JerusalemIsrael3.93-927.0%
62BudapestHungary3.82-710.4%
63LisbonPortugal3.5493.4%
64DammamSaudi Arabia3.50-140.3%
65Penang IslandMalaysia3.44-216.3%
66HeraklionGreece3.40-1-3.8%
67KyotoJapan3.29584.4%
68ZhuhaiChina3.26-94.4%
69VancouverCanada3.211313.3%
70Chiang MaiThailand3.2064.2%
71CopenhagenDenmark3.0787.8%
72San FranciscoUS2.90-143.1%
73MelbourneAustralia2.891220.9%
74KrakowPoland2.85-83.9%
75MarrakechMorocco2.84213.1%
76KolkattaIndia2.831422.3%
77CebuPhilippines2.8151-4.2%
78AucklandNew Zealand2.8069.7%
79Tel AvivIsrael2.78-816.0%
80GuilinChina2.752919.7%
81HonoluluUS2.74-116.0%
82HurgadaEgypt2.7445108.1%
83WarsawPoland2.73-167.2%
84MuglaTurkey2.72-3347.5%
85Buenos Aires CityArgentina2.69-318.6%
86ChibaJapan2.6810614.4%
87FrankfurtGermany2.64-79.2%
88StockholmSweden2.6010.1%
89LimaPeru2.54-1117.5%
90Da NangVietnam2.517244.0%
91BatamIndonesia2.492027.8%
92NiceFrance2.47-1710.7%
93FukuokaJapan2.4410424.6%
94Abu DhabiUAE2.401214.7%
95JejuSouth Korea2.35-8-6.2%
96PortoPortugal2.342211.7%
97RhodesGreece2.34-1110.6%
98Rio de JaneiroBrazil2.28-73.6%
99KrabiThailand2.26-512.7%
100BangaloreIndia2.248350.6%

It’s also worth noting that based on the data collected into 2019, London was projected to continue its downward trend, bringing it to 5th spot—mostly due to complications brought on by Brexit and associated visa restrictions.

Trending: Indian and Japanese Cities Take Flight

Most of the dramatic shifts in city travel patterns are happening below the top 10. Asian hot spots are gaining steam and swiftly making their way up the top 100 rankings, signaling a shift in global preferences before lockdowns began.

Take Japan for instance. The five Japanese cities in the top 100 rose by 352 places collectively since 2013. The country’s top city destinations have had an average traveler growth rate of 17.8% from 2017 to 2019. In light of Japan’s impeccable containment of COVID-19, that trend may be compounded in coming years.

Japan’s dramatic rise in the ranks is echoed by India. India’s seven cities in the top 100 have risen 229 places — with a huge average growth rate of 44.6% from 2017 to 2019. Some of that growth is the result of lifestyle tourism, particularly in the case of Delhi, which saw its traveler rate grow by 49.6% since 2017.

Prior to the pandemic, Delhi was expected to continue that steady growth and experience a leap in rank, which currently sits at 11.

With health and wellness tourism on the rise, India has gained noteworthy attention for its yoga retreats and Ayurveda practices. Delhi’s connectivity to important locations across North India has boosted inbound arrivals to the city.

— Euromonitor International

Where in the World? Asia and Europe

Asia continues to lead all other regions, followed by Europe.

Since 2013, the number of Asian cities in the top 100 has grown from 34 to 43. Asian outbound travel has also seen a surge, spurring a rise in travel campaigns from Europe and the Americas that target Asian travelers on social media platforms like WeChat.

Why the Ranking Matters: In Travel, They Trust

Before the pandemic, tourism was considered a leading and resilient economic sector.

In 2019, 1.5 billion people traveled internationally. By 2030, that number could grow to 1.8 billion—and many cities could become increasingly reliant on tourist dollars.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, cities like Macau, Cancun, Marrakech, and Las Vegas are all heavily dependent on direct tourism and travel contributions to their respective GDPs. As of 2018, more than 50% of Macau’s GDP was derived directly from tourism, while almost half of Cancun’s GDP relies on travelers.

Countries like India and the Philippines are also particularly reliant on travel. India has a related job-to-tourist ratio of two jobs for every tourist and the Philippines has a ratio of one job per tourist.

By 2030, there could be 1.8 billion tourists – just over one in five persons in the world–traveling around the globe.

United Nations World Tourism Organization

Where to Next? Wheels Up

Millions of travelers don’t lie — the siren call of cities is undeniable. In turn, those tourists have become a major lifeforce for many of these destinations, and a boon for the international travel industry.

The pandemic has thrown these dynamics off course, with much of the world grinding to a halt since early 2020. However, it’s only a matter of time before the world opens back up again.

Although travel may look very different in the future, wanderlust doesn’t simply disappear. In fact, frustrated travelers — including digital nomads and remote workers — may have all the more reason to run away.

Click for Comments

Culture

All the World’s Endangered Languages, by Country

Almost half of the world’s approximately 7,000 languages are considered endangered.

Published

on

Voronoi graphic illustrating countries with the most endangered languages.

Visualizing All the Global Endangered Languages

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Almost half of the world’s approximately 7,000 signed and spoken languages are currently endangered.

This graphic, from Stephen Jones, CEO of Derivation.co, examines the current global landscape of languages that could become extinct.

Almost 90 million Speak Languages at Risk of Extinction

An extinct language is one that no longer has any first-language or second-language speakers.

In modern times, languages have usually become extinct due to cultural assimilation, leading to language shift, and the gradual abandonment of a native language in favor of a foreign language, primarily those of European countries.

For instance, numerous Native American languages were supplanted by English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, or Dutch due to European colonization of the Americas.

Currently, out of the world’s 7,168 living languages, 3,078 (43%) are classified as Endangered. Over 88 million people speak languages at risk of extinction.

LocationsEndangered Languages
🇮🇩 Indonesia425
🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea312
🇦🇺 Australia190
🇺🇸 United States180
🇨🇳 China133
🇳🇬 Nigeria128
🇲🇽 Mexico124
🇮🇳 India114
🇧🇷 Brazil107
🇨🇲 Cameroon83
🇲🇾 Malaysia82
🇨🇦 Canada66
🇳🇵 Nepal62
🇷🇺 Russian Federation62
🇻🇺 Vanuatu55
🇵🇭 Philippines48
🇵🇪 Peru43
🇹🇿 Tanzania40
🇸🇩 Sudan39
🇨🇴 Colombia37
🇮🇷 Iran36
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo34
🇳🇨 New Caledonia30
🇻🇳 Vietnam29
🇧🇴 Bolivia25
🌐 Rest of the world594
Total3078

Additionally, 100 of them face the genuine threat of extinction within a few decades if no action is taken.

While every language matters to the individuals speaking, writing, and signing them across the planet, 80% of endangered languages (2,484) exist within just 25 countries.

Of those, the top four countries alone – Indonesia (425), Papua New Guinea (312), Australia (190), and the U.S. (180) – account for well over a thousand endangered languages.

Just as during the colonization period, the majority of endangered languages are spoken in Indigenous communities, putting their inherent culture and knowledge at risk of loss.

Languages, however, can be revitalized.

Over the last 50 years, for example, government support to teach native languages in schools has helped increase the number of speakers of the Māori language in New Zealand, and Hawaiian in the American state.

Advancements in AI are also providing tools to preserve languages.

Continue Reading
MSCI Direct Indexing

Subscribe

Popular