Top 100 International Tourist Destination Cities By Country

Number of Top 100 international tourist destination cities in each country. Created with mapchart.net

Which city is the most popular international tourist destination? Surprisingly, it’s not Paris, London or New York.

According to 2012 data from Euromonitor International, the number one tourist destination in the world was Hong Kong with 23.7 million visitors.

Singapore and Bangkok were ranked numbers 2 and 3 respectively, showing just how much Asian tourism has grown in recent years. London, at number 4, was the top ranked non-Asian city with 15.5 million international visitors and New York City, at number 8, was the most visited city in the Americas with 11.6 million tourists.

When looking at countries as a whole, the map at the top of the page is revealing. At first glance it shows just how few African countries made the list. Another interesting finding is that while London is the 4th most visited city, it’s the only UK city to make the list. Moreover, while many European countries have top 100 cities (Switzerland being a notable exception) none has more than Italy’s 4.

But that’s nothing compared to the big 3 who dominate the list:

• India has 6 cities on the list: Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Kolkata.
• The United States has 8: New York City, Las Vegas, Miami, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco, Honolulu, Washington D.C.
• And, China has whopping 9 cities: Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Zhuhai, Suzhou, Guilin, Nanjing.

Plus, this doesn’t include Hong Kong (#1) and Macau (#5), which ae both Special Administrative Regions of the People’s Republic of China.

Below are the complete rankings. Please note if you click on a city you’ll be taken to HotelsCombined where you can compare the cost of local hotels:

Rank	City	Country	Tourists (Millions)
1	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	23.7
2	Singapore	Singapore	21.3
3	Bangkok	Thailand	15.8
4	London	UK	15.5
5	Macau	Macau	13.4
6	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	13.3
7	Shenzhen	China	12.1
8	New York City	USA	11.6
9	Antalya	Turkey	10.3
10	Paris	France	9.8
11	Istanbul	Turkey	8.8
12	Rome	Italy	8.7
13	Dubai	UAE	8
14	Guangzhou	China	7.9
15	Phuket	Thailand	7.2
16	Mecca	Saudi Arabia	6.9
17	Pattaya	Thailand	6.6
18	Taipei City	Taiwan	6.6
19	Prague	Czech Republic	6.5
20	Shanghai	China	6.5
21	Las Vegas	USA	6.3
22	Miami	USA	6
23	Barcelona	Spain	5.5
24	Moscow	Russia	5
25	Beijing	China	5
26	Los Angeles	USA	5
27	Budapest	Hungary	4.8
28	Vienna	Austria	4.3
29	Amsterdam	Netherlands	4.3
30	Sofia	Bulgaria	4.1
31	Madrid	Spain	4.1
32	Orlando	USA	4.1
33	Ho Chi Minh City	Vietnam	3.9
34	Lima	Peru	3.8
35	Berlin	Germany	3.8
36	Tokyo	Japan	3.7
37	Warsaw	Poland	3.7
38	Chennai	India	3.5
39	Cairo	Egypt	3.5
40	Nairobi	Kenya	3.4
41	Hangzhou	China	3.4
42	Milan	Italy	3.3
43	San Francisco	USA	3.2
44	Buenos Aires	Argentina	3.2
45	Venice	Italy	3.2
46	Mexico City	Mexico	3.1
47	Dublin	Ireland	3.1
48	Seoul	South Korea	3
49	Mugla	Turkey	3
50	Mumbai	India	3
51	Denpasar	Indonesia	3
52	Delhi	India	2.9
53	Toronto	Canada	2.8
54	Zhuhai	China	2.7
55	St Petersburg	Russia	2.7
56	Burgas	Bulgaria	2.7
57	Sydney	Australia	2.7
58	Djerba	Tunisia	2.6
59	Munich	Germany	2.6
60	Johannesburg	South Africa	2.6
61	Cancun	Mexico	2.6
62	Edirne	Turkey	2.6
63	Suzhou	China	2.5
64	Bucharest	Romania	2.4
65	Punta Cana	Dominican Republic	2.4
66	Agra	India	2.4
67	Jaipur	India	2.3
68	Brussels	Belgium	2.3
69	Nice	France	2.2
70	Chiang Mai	Thailand	2.2
71	Sharm el-Sheikh	Egypt	2.2
72	Lisbon	Portugal	2.2
73	East Province	Saudi Arabia	2.2
74	Marrakech	Morocco	2.1
75	Jakarta	Indonesia	2.1
76	Manama	Bahrain	2
77	Hanoi	Vietnam	2
78	Honolulu	USA	2
79	Manila	Philippines	2
80	Guilin	China	2
81	Auckland	New Zealand	2
82	Siem Reap	Cambodia	1.9
83	Sousse	Tunisia	1.9
84	Amman	Jordan	1.9
85	Vancouver	Canada	1.9
86	Abu Dhabi	UAE	1.9
87	Kiev	Ukraine	1.9
88	Doha	Qatar	1.9
89	Florence	Italy	1.8
90	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	1.8
91	Melbourne	Australia	1.8
92	Washington D.C.	USA	1.7
93	Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	1.7
94	Christchurch	New Zealand	1.7
95	Frankfurt	Germany	1.7
96	Baku	Azerbaijan	1.7
97	Sao Paulo	Brazil	1.7
98	Harare	Zimbabwe	1.7
99	Kolkata	India	1.6
100	Nanjing	China	1.6

The data all comes from this Euromonitor International report. I’d strongly encourage you to read it if you’re curious about their methodology and other interesting findings.

If you’d like to learn about the growth of international tourism, have a look at the following books:

• Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism
• Rick Steves Travel as a Political Act
• 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, the second edition: Completely Revised and Updated with Over 200 New Entries

Did your favourite city not make the list? Let us know in the comments below: