The Top 100 Cities Destination Ranking for 2015 international arrivals

Hong Kong remained the top city destination in the world for the seventh consecutive year

Euromonitor International released the Top 100 Cities Destination Ranking for 2015 international arrivals. Hong Kong remained the top city destination in the world for the seventh consecutive year, with 26.7 million international visitors in 2015. Bangkok overtook London as the world’s second most visited city, with 10 percent growth in international arrivals. London moved down to the third spot in the global ranking but remained the top European city destination with international arrivals growing 7 percent in 2015.

The new 100 cities ranking shows that:

• Athens had another record year with arrivals growing by 22.6% in 2015, despite political and economic turmoil.
• Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy attracted growing numbers of visitors. With the exception of Heraklion on Crete and Rhodes, all cities in these countries showed strong growth.
• London is the top city in Europe (ranked 3rd globally), with international arrivals growing just short of 7% in 2015, boosted by England’s hosting of the Rugby World Cup in September 2015.
• Paris saw the Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan attacks in 2015. Although the impact was minimal in 2015, 2016 arrivals are expected to be harder hit. 
• Istanbul proofed largely immune to a decline in Russian arrivals due to the weak ruble, and unlike Turkish beach destinations registered growth. However, the Ataturk Airport bombing and military coup show it remains a volatile city.
• In Italy, Milan performed strongly thanks to the Expo Milano 2015. The Expo event counted more than 21 million visitors and it attracted many international arrivals, especially during the summer months.
• Moscow saw arrivals slump due to worsening ties with the European Union, economic sanctions and a slump of the ruble. - In Europe add the numbers for Russian cities: Moscow -13.8% and St Petersburg - 3.7%

Euromonitor International’s Travel Analyst, Wouter Geerts comments: “2015 was another turbulent year. Terrorist attacks, geopolitical conflicts, economic uncertainty and health scares like MERS and Zika were just some of the factors impacting city arrivals. Nevertheless, top cities outperformed global travel flows, registering growth of 5.5 percent in international arrivals compared to 2014, showing the resilience of global cities as travel destinations.”

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