- Paris is a city beloved for fine food, fine art and fine fashion.
- A new index from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) also says that Paris is the world’s most powerful city for tourism.
- So, who else made the list?
The WTTC, a nonprofit travel industry body based in the UK, analyzed tourism data from the year 2022 to see where travelers were spending the most money. The overall list of most powerful tourism cities didn’t only take museum tickets and hotel rooms into account, though. The other factor was how much local and national governments and businesses are investing in these cities as tourist destinations.
The United States of Tourism
Two countries each had three cities on the WTTC list. One was the United States, with Orlando, New York City and Las Vegas representing the nation. While each city makes a significant chunk of cash from tourism, they cater to different kinds of travelers – Orlando is popular with families visiting the city’s theme parks, Las Vegas is an internationally known gambling and nightlife hub and New York attracts foodies and art lovers, among others.
China On The Rise
Three Chinese cities – Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou – landed in the top 10 for 2022. Other Chinese destinations are working their way up the index. In particular, the beach getaway of Sanya – on sunny Hainan Island in southern China – and Macau were cited as places to keep an eye on in the future. China has invested heavily in tourism and is advertising to international travelers now that its border has reopened. Macao is the only city in China with legal gambling, and it’s easier for most tourists to go there without a visa – unlike the mainland. The WTTC predicts that by 2032 China will dominate its rankings.
Other Standouts
Of course, there are more than two countries represented in the WTTC list. Tokyo, Mexico City and London placed in seventh, eighth and ninth respectively to round out the rankings. Although luxury-packed Dubai and soccer World Cup host Doha topped the list of most amount of tourism revenue, they didn’t score as highly in the other categories and wound up outside the top 10. Amsterdam, Barcelona and Singapore also fell victim to the same phenomenon, scoring highly for the amount of money spent by visitors but not landing on the overall “most powerful” list.
Top 5 cities include:
- Paris, France
- Beijing, China
- Orlando, Florida
- Shanghai, China
- Las Vegas, Nevada
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Source: EditionCNN
