Hong Kong tourism booming
During 2014, the city welcomed 27.8 million people, an eight-per-cent rise compared with 2013. The firm’s Top 100 City Destinations Ranking found that Asian cities occupy more than one in three of the most popular destinations for tourists – Singapore came third, with 17 million international arrivals.
Other cities that saw their profile boosted were Athens, where international arrival has grown in double figures, Rio de Janeiro, which recorded the best growth (a 46.6-per-cent jump in incoming visitors between 2013 and 2014) and London, which leapfrogged Bangkok and Singapore into second place in the ranking. Cities in the US and China also had good showings in Euromonitor International’s list, with seven cities apiece.
The UK capital may have reached second place in Euromonitor’s list, but in a separate survey London lost out to Paris, with the French capital winning back the title of Most Admired City in the latest Anholt-GfK Brands IndexSM, a bi-annual study. While the study’s results have only recently been released, it was conducted approximately two months before the November 2015 terrorist attacks in the city. However, if anything, Paris’ dignified show of strength could well solidify the title rather than risk it falling to another destination.