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Paris is a city loved for good food, fine art and fine fashion.
But a new index from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) also says Paris is the world’s most powerful city for tourism.
The WTTC, a UK-based not-for-profit travel industry body, analyzed tourism data from 2022 to see where travelers were spending the most money.
However, the overall list of the most powerful tourist cities did not only consider museum tickets and hotel rooms. The other factor was how much local and national governments and businesses are investing in these cities as tourist destinations.
Take for example Paris at the top of the list: the city is preparing to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. Although less than 5% of the facilities will be newly built for the Games, the city is pouring resources into infrastructure, security and other measures that will help them prepare to welcome the world.
According to this accounting, the total tourism of the French capital reached 35.6 billion dollars.
So who else made the list?
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 portion of its money from tourism, they cater to different types of travelers—Orlando is popular with families visiting the city’s parks, Las Vegas is an internationally renowned center for gambling and nightlife, and New York attracts foodies and art lovers. among others.
Of that group, Orlando was the top earner, at $31 billion for 2022. That’s a lot of Mickey Mouse ears.
Three Chinese cities – Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou – landed in the top 10 for 2022.
Other Chinese destinations are moving towards the index. In particular, the beach escape of Sanya – on the sunny island of Hainan in southern China – and Macau were mentioned 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. Macau is the only city in China with legal gambling and it is easier for most tourists to go there without a visa – unlike the mainland.
WTTC predicts that by 2032 China will dominate its ranking.
“Big cities like London, Paris and New York will remain global powerhouses, but over the next few years, Beijing, Shanghai and Macau will move up the list of top city destinations,” said Julia Simpson, President and CEO of WTTC. a statement.
Of course, there are more than two countries represented on the WTTC list. Tokyo, Mexico City and London ranked seventh, eighth and ninth respectively to round out the rankings.
In some ways, it was just as interesting to see who didn’t make the list.
Two surprising releases were in the Middle East, which has grown greatly in popularity over the past decade.
Although luxury Dubai and soccer World Cup host Doha topped the list for the highest amount of tourism revenue, they did not score as well in other categories and finished 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 did not make the overall “most powerful” list.
1. Paris, France
2. Beijing, China
3. Orlando, Florida
4. Shanghai, China
5. Vegas, Nevada
6. New York, New York
7. Tokyo, Japan
8. Mexico City, Mexico
9. London, UK
10. Guangzhou, China
