CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Paris has been crowned the world's most attractive city.
It is the fourth year in a row that the French capital dominates the Top 100 City Destinations Index by data analytics company Euromonitor International.
The proud moment comes just four months after the French capital successfully hosted the Olympic Games, and as the country is facing a political uncertainty with the resignation of its minority government Thursday.
Euromonitor International's Top 100 City Destinations Index 2024 provides insights into the performance, appeal and potential of urban markets. It compares 55 different metrics across six key pillars for 100 city destinations, to create an overall city attractiveness score. The six key parameters considered to measure the worthiness of global cities were economic and business performance, tourism performance, tourism infrastructure, tourism policy and attractiveness, health and safety, and sustainability.
The annual report issued by Euromonitor International in partnership with data company Lighthouse revealed that this year's top 10 ranking was dominated by six European destinations, while also showing an increase in non-European cities making the list.
Paris retained the title of the world's leading city destination by registering more than 17 million inbound arrivals, followed by Madrid in second place and Tokyo in third. Rome came in fourth, while Milan rounded up the top five. Asia has one more representation in the top 10 - Singapore, at No. 9. European destinations maintain a good standing in the Index largely due to the Tourism Infrastructure pillar.
Global international arrivals saw a 19 percent increase in 2024, driven by strong tourism demand, the Index shows. Europe remained the most popular region, reaching 793 million international trips in the same year.
Bangkok topped the list of international arrivals by city with 32 million trips in 2024. The city surpassed pre-pandemic level of international tourism flows in 2023 and continued dynamic growth of over 30 percent in 2024.
International tourism spending totaled $1.9 trillion in 2024, the report says.
U.S., Turkey and China are expected to be the destinations with the highest volume growth of international arrivals by 2030, Euromonitor International said in a press release.
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