The world’s best travel cities: Taipei is on the list again. According to the latest “Global Destination Cities Index” published by Mastercard International, Taipei has surpassed Los Angeles and ranked among the top 20 global travel cities, placing 18th, and 8th in the Asia-Pacific region. Not only that, Taipei also leads Greater China in international visitor spending, with a total of $8.1 billion, showing that Taipei has become one of the world’s major travel destinations. Bangkok, meanwhile, has claimed the top spot this year, beating last year’s champion London and runner-up Paris.
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Taipei City has edged out Los Angeles to claim the 18th spot on the list of the world’s best travel cities and ranks 8th in Asia. (Image provided by Mook Editorial Department)
For the third consecutive year, Mastercard has released the “MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index,” which ranks 132 global travel cities based on international visitor arrivals and spending, and includes growth forecasts for 2013.
Based on the ranking of international visitor arrivals, Bangkok stands out among 132 countries and has been selected as the best travel city in the world for 2013, surpassing London, Paris, Singapore, and New York. Among the 42 Asian cities in the report, the top 10 Asian cities are Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo, Taipei, Beijing, and Guangzhou, with five of them located in Greater China, indicating that the Asia-Pacific region has become a new trend in global tourism.
In addition, compared to other cities in Greater China, Taipei leads the region in international visitor spending, with $8.1 billion, far exceeding Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Guangzhou. Moreover, in terms of international visitor numbers, Taipei received a total of 5.19 million visitors, higher than Beijing and Guangzhou but behind Hong Kong’s 8.72 million and Shanghai’s 6.5 million.
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Bangkok, Thailand, claimed the top spot in this year’s report, surpassing London and Paris. (Image provided by Mook Editorial Department)
From 2009 to 2013, Taipei achieved an 82.7% growth rate in total international visitor arrivals, ranking 8th globally. The top five fastest-growing global travel cities are Chengdu (285%), Riyadh (219.4%), Colombo (122.9%), Mumbai (113.3%), and Nanjing (97.1%), showing the significant rise of emerging travel markets and the accelerating shift of the global tourism landscape toward the Asia-Pacific region.
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