The 2015 MasterCard\u00a0Global Destination Cities shows that Johannesburg remains South Africa’s – and Africa’s – most travelled-to city.<\/p>\n
The index charts how 132 of the” most important cities in the\u00a0world” are connected through air travel – how many international visitors arrive at each of the\u00a0cities\u00a0from the\u00a0other cities; and how much these visitors spend during their visit.<\/p>\n
In 2015, MasterCard expects nearly 383 million overnight trips will be made by international visitors between the Index\u2019s 132 cities, as they spend at total of US$360 billion during their visits.<\/p>\n
London has retained the number one position as the most-visited city in the world, with 18.82 million international visitors expected to pass through customs in 2015.<\/p>\n
This is only slightly ahead of the second most visited city, Bangkok, which is expected to draw\u00a018.24 million visitors.<\/p>\n
London also draws the most visitor spending, MasterCard said, taking in $20.23 billion from travellers. New York, ranked sixth in terms of visitors, raked in the second-largest amount of money at $17.37 billion.<\/p>\n
The top 20 destinations list has remained largely unchanged between 2014 and 2015, with the only shifts happening between New York, Istanbul and Singapore.<\/p>\n
Specifically, Istanbul jumped two places to become the fifth most-visited city with 12.56 million people, pushing New York (12.27 million) to sixth, and Singapore (11.88 million) to seventh.<\/p>\n
| #<\/th>\n | City<\/th>\n | 2015 visitors<\/th>\n | 2015 spend<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1<\/td>\n | London<\/td>\n | 18.82 million<\/td>\n | $20.2 billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 2<\/td>\n | Bangkok<\/td>\n | 18.24\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $12.4\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 3<\/td>\n | Paris<\/td>\n | 16.06\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $16.6\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 4<\/td>\n | Dubai<\/td>\n | 14.26\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $11.7\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 5<\/td>\n | Istanbul<\/td>\n | 12.56\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $9.4\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 6<\/td>\n | New\u00a0York<\/td>\n | 12.27\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $17.4\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 7<\/td>\n | Singapore<\/td>\n | 11.88\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $14.7\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 8<\/td>\n | Kuala Lumpur<\/td>\n | 11.12\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $12.0\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 9<\/td>\n | Seoul<\/td>\n | 10.35\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $15.2\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 10<\/td>\n | Hong Kong<\/td>\n | 8.66\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $7.4\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 11<\/td>\n | Tokyo<\/td>\n | 8.08\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $8.4\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 12<\/td>\n | Barcelona<\/td>\n | 7.63\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $13.9\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 13<\/td>\n | Amsterdam<\/td>\n | 7.44\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $3.7\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 14<\/td>\n | Rome<\/td>\n | 7.41\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $5.3\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 15<\/td>\n | Milan<\/td>\n | 7.17\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $4.9\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 16<\/td>\n | Taipei<\/td>\n | 6.55\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $9.3\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 17<\/td>\n | Shanghai<\/td>\n | 5.85\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $5.1\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 18<\/td>\n | Vienna<\/td>\n | 5.81\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $4.6\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 19<\/td>\n | Prague<\/td>\n | 5.47\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $3.3\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||
| 20<\/td>\n | Los Angeles<\/td>\n | 5.20\u00a0million<\/td>\n | $7.4\u00a0billion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n In Africa, Johannesburg ranked as the most-visited city on the continent, drawing 4.44 million visitors in 2015, with a spend of $2.6 billion in the city.<\/p>\n Johannesburg is a central hub and gateway to many other African cities, as well as a primary business destination on the continent, which would account for its large number of overnight visitors.<\/p>\n According to the report, Joburg’s top two feeder cities are European – London and Frankfurt – which also spend the most in the city. 402,000 Londoners and 345,000 Frankfurters spent a combined $562 million over the reporting period.<\/p>\n Other key feeder cities are in Southern Africa: Harare (342,000), Maputo (230,000) and Windhoek (230,000).<\/p>\n Cape Town was ranked second on the continent, with 1.96 million visitors, spending $2.1 billion. While Cape Town draws less than half the visitors Joburg sees, on average the Mother City’s international guests spend more ($1,070 vs Joburg’s $585).<\/p>\n Cape Town is also one of the fastest-growing destination cities, according to MasterCard, seeing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.9% since 2009.<\/p>\n Joburg is also a fast-growing city in the region, with a CAGR of 5.0% since 2009.<\/p>\n Joburg vs Cape Town<\/h3>\n
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