Most people like travelling, and tourism is at the core of human fantasy. Visitations to cities are driven by a number of factors, which include but not limited to economic, health, education, spiritual and sociocultural tourism.
Using the scientific method of obtaining available data on the topic, The Economy brings you a list of world’s most visited cities and we start from the top to bottom, as we think there’s no need for suspense.
1. Hong Kong
25,587,300 arrivals
Hong Kong is a city and a special administrative region in China with a population of 7.4 million residents of various nationalities in a 1,104-square-kilometre territory. It is one of the most densely populated territories in the world.
Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages, the territory is now one of the world’s most significant financial centres and commercial ports. Hong Kong is the world’s fourth-ranked global financial centre, ninth-largest exporter, and eighth-largest importer. Its currency, the Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded currency in the world.
Singapore
2. Singapore
22,455,400 arrivals
Singapore is the capital city of Singapore, an island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia.
Economic capital of one of the Four Asian Tigers with its growth based on international trade and economic globalisation, it integrated itself with the world economy through free trade with minimal-to-no trade barriers or tariffs, export-oriented industrialisation, and the large accumulation of received foreign direct investments, foreign-exchange reserves, and assets held by sovereign wealth funds.
Singapore is a major aviation, financial, and maritime shipping hub, and has consistently been ranked as one of the most expensive cities to live in for expatriates and foreign workers.
Bangkok
3. Bangkok
17,467,800 arrivals.
Bangkok is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated population of 10.539 million as of 2020, 15.3 per cent of the country’s population.
Over 14 million people (22.2 per cent) lived within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region at the 2010 census, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, dwarfing Thailand’s other urban centres in both size and importance to the national economy.
The Asian investment boom in the 1980s and 1990s led many multinational corporations to locate their regional headquarters in Bangkok. The city is now a regional force in finance, business and pop culture.
It is an international hub for transport and health care, and has emerged as a centre for the arts, fashion, and entertainment. The city is known for its street life and cultural landmarks, as well as its red-light districts.
London
4. London
16,784,100 arrivals
London, city, capital of the United Kingdom. It is among the oldest of the world’s great cities—its history spanning nearly two millennia—and one of the most cosmopolitan. By far Britain’s largest metropolis, it is also the country’s economic, transportation, and cultural centre.
Paris
5. Paris, France
15,200,000 arrivals
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an official estimated population of 2,102,650 residents as of 1 January 2023 in an area of more than 105 km2 (41 sq mi), making it the fourth-most populated city in the European Union as well as the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2022.
Paris is especially known for its museums and architectural landmarks: the Louvre received 7.8 million visitors in 2022, keeping its position as the most-visited art museum in the world.
Macau
6. Macau
14,268,500 arrivals.
Officially known as the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a population of about 680,000 and an area of 32.9 km2, it is the most densely populated region in the world.
Originally a sparsely populated collection of coastal islands, Macau, often referred to as the “Las Vegas of the East”, has become a major resort city and a top destination for gambling tourism, with a gambling industry seven times larger than that of Las Vegas. The city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, $43,770 in 2021.
New York
7. New York City
11,850,400 arrivals
New York City, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km2), the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. NYC is more than twice as populous as Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest city.
Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City has been called both the world’s leading financial and fintech center and the most economically powerful city in the world, and is home to the world’s two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization of their listed companies, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. As of 2021, the New York metropolitan area is the second largest metropolitan economy in the world with a gross metropolitan product of almost $2.0 trillion. If the New York metropolitan area were its own country, it would have the tenth-largest economy in the world.
Shenzhen
8. Shenzhen
11,702,500 arrivals
Shenzhen is China’s third most economically and technically developed city after Shanghai and Beijing.The city is a special economic zone, and a popular travel destination, on the banks of the Pearl River estuary in Guangdong province, bordering Hong Kong to the south.
With a population of 17.56 million in 2020, Shenzhen is the third most populous city by urban population in China after Shanghai and Beijing. Shenzhen is a global center in technology, research, manufacturing, business and economics, finance, tourism and transportation, and the Port of Shenzhen is the world’s fourth busiest container port. Due to the city’s wide renown as a leading global technology hub, Shenzhen is commonly known as China’s Silicon Valley.
Kuala Lumpur
9. Kuala Lumpur
11,182,400 arrivals
Kuala Lumpur is a federal territory and the capital city of Malaysia. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Asia and the largest city in Malaysia, covering an area of 243 km2 with a population of about two million people as of 2020
Kuala Lumpur is one of the leading cities in the world for tourism and shopping and was the 6th most-visited city in the world in 2019. The city houses three of the world’s ten largest shopping malls. The city serves as the cultural, political, education, financial, and economic centre of Malaysia.
Antalya
10. Antalya
11,120,700 arrivals
Antalya is a Turkish resort city with a yacht-filled old harbor and beaches flanked by large hotels. It’s a gateway to Turkey’s southern Mediterranean region, known as the Turquoise Coast for its blue waters.
The city is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. It is seen as the “capital of tourism” in Turkey.
Antalya is Turkey’s biggest international sea resort, on the Turkish Riviera. Large-scale development and governmental funding has promoted tourism. A record 13.6 million tourists passed through the city in 2019.
Istanbul
11. Istanbul
10,486,300 arrivals
Istanbul is a major city in Turkey that straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus Strait. Its Old City reflects cultural influences of the many empires that once ruled here. In the Sultanahmet district, the open-air, Roman-era Hippodrome was for centuries the site of chariot races, and Egyptian obelisks also remain. The iconic Byzantine Hagia Sophia features a soaring 6th-century dome and rare Christian mosaics.
Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, serving as the country’s economic, cultural and historic hub. The city straddles the Bosporus strait, lying in both Europe and Asia, and has a population of over 15 million residents, comprising 19% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is the most populous European city and the world’s 15th-largest city.
Over 13.4 million foreign visitors came to Istanbul in 2018, eight years after it was named a European Capital of Culture, making it the world’s eighth most visited city. The historic centre of Istanbul is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the city hosts the headquarters of numerous Turkish companies, accounting for more than 30% of the country’s economy.
Dubai
12. Dubai
10,458,300 arrivals
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates known for luxury shopping, ultramodern architecture and a lively nightlife scene. Burj Khalifa, an 830m-tall tower, dominates the skyscraper-filled skyline. At its foot lies Dubai Fountain, with jets and lights choreographed to music. On artificial islands just offshore is Atlantis, The Palm, a resort with water and marine-animal parks.
Dubai is a city of skyscrapers, ports, and beaches, where big business takes place alongside sun-seeking tourism. Because of its large expatriate population, it feels like a Middle Eastern melting pot, and the atmosphere is generally tolerant.
Seoul
13. Seoul
8,619,000 arrivals
Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is a huge metropolis where modern skyscrapers, high-tech subways and pop culture meet Buddhist temples, palaces and street markets. Notable attractions include futuristic Dongdaemun Design Plaza, a convention hall with curving architecture and a rooftop park; Gyeongbokgung Palace, which once had more than 7,000 rooms; and Jogyesa Temple, site of ancient locust and pine trees.
Seoul was rated Asia’s most livable city with the second highest quality of life globally by Arcadis in 2015, with a GDP per capita (PPP) of around $40,000. With major technology hubs centered in Gangnam and Digital Media City, the Seoul Capital Area is home to the headquarters of 15 Fortune Global 500 companies, including Samsung, LG, and Hyundai. Ranked seventh in the Global Power City Index and Global Financial Centres Index, the metropolis exerts a major influence in global affairs as one of the five leading hosts of global conferences.
Rome
14. Rome
8,608,300 arrivals
.Rome is the capital city of Italy. It is also the capital of the Lazio region, the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome, and a special comune named Comune di Roma Capitale. With 2,860,009 residents in 1,285 km2, Rome is the country’s most populated comune and the third most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. The Metropolitan City of Rome, with a population of 4,355,725 residents, is the most populous metropolitan city in Italy.
In 2019, Rome was the 14th most visited city in the world, with 8.6 million tourists, the third most visited city in the European Union, and the most popular tourist destination in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The host city for the 1960 Summer Olympics, Rome is also the seat of several specialised agencies of the United Nations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The city also hosts the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean[18] (UfM) as well as the headquarters of many international businesses, such as Eni, Enel, TIM, Leonardo, and banks such as BNL. Numerous companies are based within Rome’s EUR business district, such as the luxury fashion house Fendi located in the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana. The presence of renowned international brands in the city has made Rome an important centre of fashion and design, and the Cinecittà Studios have been the set of many Academy Award–winning movies.
Phuket
15. Phuket Province
8,035,000 arrivals
Phuket, a rainforested, mountainous island in the Andaman Sea, has some of Thailand’s most popular beaches, mainly situated along the clear waters of the western shore. The island is home to many high-end seaside resorts, spas and restaurants. Phuket City, the capital, has old shophouses and busy markets. Patong, the main resort town, has many nightclubs, bars and discos.
Phuket province has an area of 576 km2, somewhat less than that of Singapore, and is the second-smallest province of Thailand. The island was on one of the major trading routes between India and China, and was frequently mentioned in foreign ships’ logs of Portuguese, French, Dutch, and English traders, but was never colonised by a European power. It formerly derived its wealth from tin and rubber and now from tourism.
