What is the world's leading urban destination?

Paris takes the crown as the world’s most powerful city destination.

Photo: Pixabay

New research from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reveals that the French capital Paris, it is the world’s leading urban destination but predicts it will be overtaken by Beijing by 2032.

report, sponsored by Visa and researched in collaboration with Oxford Economics, key indicators such as the contribution of travel and tourism to GDP, employment and passenger spending were looked at.

Covid-19 had a devastating impact on the travel and tourism sector, and especially on major cities around the world, as countries closed their borders in response to the pandemic. As borders have reopened, many holidaymakers have shifted city visits to less populated destinations such as coastal and rural areas, but WTTC’s latest research shows that city ​​breaks are back and their popularity is growing.

Paris takes the crown as city ​​destination the most powerful in the world, with a travel and tourism sector worth almost US$36 billion in 2022, based on the city’s direct GDP contribution.

Over the next 10 years, WTTC predicts it will drop to third place, although its value will rise to more than $49 billion.

Beijing It is currently the second largest urban area in the world, with a travel and tourism sector worth nearly $33 billion. However, WTTC predicts it will overtake Paris within the next 10 years, growing to $77 billion.

In addition, it is often referred to as the theme park capital of the world, the travel and tourism industry Orlando It was estimated to be worth $31 billion in 2022, but despite predictions that it will grow by almost 50% to $45 billion by 2032, it will fall to the fourth largest urban destination.

National travel and tourism sector China It has grown phenomenally in the last decade as the country has invested in new hotels, transport infrastructure and new tourist destinations. This investment in travel and tourism projects Shanghai’s sector, worth nearly $30 billion last year, to double to nearly $71 billion by 2032 to become the world’s most powerful urban destination.

Las Vegas it is the only city on the top 10 list to retain its place, holding firm as the 5th largest city destination. Las Vegas’ travel and tourism industry was worth nearly $23 billion last year and is projected to grow to over $36 billion by 2032.

(Also read: Travel guide: New York at everyone’s fingertips)

“Big cities like London, Paris and New York will remain the world’s powerhouses, but in the coming years Beijing, Shanghai and Macau will move up the list of top urban destinations,” he says. Julia Simpson, President and CEO of WTTC. He added: “Tourists always have favorite cities they return to, but as other countries prioritize travel and tourism, we are seeing new and emerging destinations challenging traditional favourites.”

Other cities outside the top 10 showing promising growth as emerging destinations include the Polish capital Warsaw clay, whose contribution to GDP has increased by 14.4% in 2022 compared to 2019.

Sanya, The Chinese coastal city, which has become a popular tourist destination in recent years as tourists flock to its stunning beaches, grew by 10.2% in the same period. Its travel and tourism sector accounts for an incredible 43.6% of the city’s total economy.

(Also read: Community and rural tourism: What to do in Norcasia? A destination for peace and nature)

Macao’s travel and tourism sector accounts for 40.4% of the city’s total economy. Orlando and Las Vegas they are the only cities currently in the top 10 urban destinations by sector value that are highly dependent on the sector as part of the overall urban economy. Travel and tourism make up 20.4% of Orlando’s economy and 16.3% of Las Vegas’ economy. By comparison, Paris’ travel and tourism sector will account for just 3.5% of the capital’s economy in 2022.

The cities with the highest passenger spending international in 2022 were:

1. Dubai – $29.42 million
2. Doha – $16.79 million
3. London – $16.07 million
4. Macau – $15.58 million
5. Amsterdam – $13.59 million
6. Istanbul – $13.13 million
7. Barcelona – $12.73 million
8. New York – $12.45 million
9. Singapore – $10.97 million
10. Paris – $9.76 million

In 2032, WTTC predicts that the cities with the highest spending by international travelers will become:

1. Hong Kong – $52.06 billion (up 38 places from 2022)
2. Macau – $43.14 billion (up two places from 2022)
3. Dubai – $42.98 billion (down two places from 2022)
4. Singapore – $37.43 billion (up five places from 2022)
5. Bangkok – $33.45 billion (up seven places from 2022)
6. Doha – $31.63 billion (down four places from 2022)
7. Tokyo $25.44 billion (up to 30 sites from 2022)
8. New York $21.73 billion (unchanged from 2022)
9. Amsterdam $21.53 billion (down four places from 2022)
10. Shanghai – $21.3 billion (up 11 places from 2022)

Over the next decade, travel and tourism will become a the main driving force of economic growth once again, with GDP growing faster than other sectors, creating 126 million new jobs worldwide.

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