New York is no longer among the most-visited cities in the world, according to a new report.
The Big Apple has slipped to 11th place in a ranking based on visitor arrivals – the first time since 2013 that it has fallen out of the top 10.
Despite unrest, Hong Kong remains at the top of the most-visited list with 26.7million visitors followed by Bangkok with 25.8million and Macau with 20.6million.
New York is no longer among the most-visited cities in the world, according to a new report
Despite unrest, Hong Kong, pictured, tops the most-visited city list with 26.7million visitors
The ranking has been revealed by Euromonitor in its Top 100 City Destinations 2019 report using international arrival data for the year of 2018 in conjunction with estimated part-year data for 2019.
The rest of the top 10 comprises Singapore in fourth with 19.7million visitors and London in fifth with 19.5million visitors.
Paris is in sixth place with 19.1million visitors and Dubai is seventh with 16.3million visitors.
Rounding out the top 10 are Delhi (eighth, 15.2million visitors), Istanbul (ninth, 14.7million visitors) and Kuala Lumpur (10th, 14.1million visitors).
The report explains that 11th-place New York is still the most popular urban city destination in the U.S but ‘requires massive infrastructure improvements and increased availability of affordable lodging’.
It says: ‘The number of short-term rentals has been growing rapidly but a proposed law aiming to curb the explosion of short-term rental listings may put off millennials.’
The second most-visited city according to the report by Euromonitor is Bangkok, pictured
Macau in China, pictured, takes third place on the most-visited cities list for 2019
In addition, it notes that as ‘trade tensions escalate between the U.S. and China’, arrivals to New York from China are expected to decline.
Top-ranked Hong Kong’s ability to attract international arrivals is down to ‘its proximity to China, vibrant shopping scene and strong cultural heritage’, the report says.
More than 50 per cent of all visitors to Hong Kong come from mainland China. The report says the completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge as well as the commissioning of the high-speed rail link connecting Hong Kong to Shenzhen and Guangzhou have led to ‘consistent growth in arrivals from China’.
Meanwhile, fifth-placed London is still the most-visited city in Europe but the report warns that Paris ‘aims to capitalise on the emerging opportunity Brexit creates, not only in terms of leisure tourism but also business travel’.
Fifth-placed London, pictured, is still the most-visited city in Europe, but the report warns that Paris ‘aims to capitalise on the emerging opportunity Brexit creates’
The report by Euromonitor also produced a separate ranking of the cities based on full-year data from 2018. Pictured is the top 10 cities table
The report also produced a separate ranking based on full-year arrivals data from 2018.
That ranking has a slightly different order – Hong Kong is still top with 29.2million visitors followed by Bangkok on 24.2million visitors. But London (19.2million visitors) is in third place, Macau (18.9million visitors) is fourth and Singapore (18.6million visitors) is fifth.
The rest of the top 10 is made up of Paris (sixth, 17.6million visitors), Dubai (seventh, 15.9million visitors), New York (eighth, 13.6million visitors), Kuala Lumpur (ninth, 13.4million visitors) and Istanbul (10th, 13.4million visitors).
