The Undisputed Champ of World Cities

Image: PHOTO: Hong Kong attracted 26.6 million visitors in 2016, holding onto the top slot as the most visited city on the planet. (photo via Pixabay/Free-Photos) (Pixabay)
Image: PHOTO: Hong Kong attracted 26.6 million visitors in 2016, holding onto the top slot as the most visited city on the planet. (photo via Pixabay/Free-Photos) (Pixabay)
Mia Taylor
by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 2:20 PM ET, Tue November 7, 2017

Between its strategic location and its relationship with China, Hong Kong is in quite an enviable position.

It's the most-visited city in the world for the ninth year running, according to a new report from Euromonitor International.

Asia, in general, is experiencing something of a travel boom, according to the marketing research firm, which just released its 2017 Top 100 City Destinations Survey.

Asian cities dominate the global destination rankings, thanks in large part to the rise of Chinese outbound tourism.

The second most visited city on the list is Bangkok, Thailand, which has overtaken London.

In 2010, 34 cities from Asia Pacific made it onto the international ranking. This year the number jumped to 41 cities and by 2025 is expected to grow to 47 cities.

"Asia Pacific is the standout region that has driven change in the travel landscape and is expected to continue doing so in the coming decade with Singapore overtaking London as the third most visited city in the world by 2025 making the podium fully Asian," states the report.

Rounding out the top ten most visited cities for 2017 behind Hong Kong and Bangkok are London, Singapore, Macau, Dubai, Paris, New York, Shenzhen and Kuala Lumpur.

The new report also includes data on the top visited cities in just the Americas. Leading this list, based on 2016 arrivals, is New York City with 12.7 million visitors.

The remainder of the top 10 includes Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Cancun, Orlando, Toronto, San Francisco, Punta Cana and Honolulu.

While seven of the 10 Americas cities are located in the United States, that is expected to change in 2017, with the performance of these cities falling behind those in Canada and Latin America.

According to the report, the impact of Trump on inbound arrivals to the U.S. is being closely monitored by tourism boards.

In particular, the report notes that uncertainty reigns with Donald Trump in the White House.

Euromonitor's Travel Forecast Model provides something of an indication of the impact a Trump trade war would have on the industry.

"If the US drops out of NAFTA and imposes a 35 percent tariff on Mexican imports, followed by Mexican retaliation, the impact on inter-regional travel would be considerable," states the report.

Euromonitor estimates trips from the United States to Mexico would fall by more than eight percent between 2017 and 2020. Travel in the opposite direction, from Mexico to the United States, would tumble by about 18.5 percent.


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Mia Taylor

Mia Taylor

Senior Editor

Mia Taylor is an award-winning journalist who has two decades of experience. Most recently she worked as a staff writer for America's largest digital publisher DotdashMeredith, where she contributed stories on a daily basis to four of the company's most iconic brands - Parents,Real Simple, Better Homes & Gardens, and Health. Her work has also appeared in Travel + Leisure, The Boston Globe, The San Diego UnionTribune, Westways Magazine, Fortune, and more.

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