Great dining, fine art, and fine clothing are well-known in Paris.
However, a recent assessment from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) also claims that Paris is the most influential tourist destination in the world.
The WTTC, a nonprofit organization for the travel sector with headquarters in the UK, examined tourist statistics from 2022 to determine where visitors were spending the most money.
However, more than just hotel rooms and museum admissions were taken into consideration while compiling the overall list of the most effective tourism cities. The amount of money that local, state, and federal businesses and governments invest in these towns as tourism destinations was the other determinant.
As the number one city on the list, Paris is getting ready to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. Less than 5% of the venues will be brand-new for the Games, but the city is investing heavily in infrastructure, security, and other preparations to host the world.
According to that calculation, the entire revenue from tourism in the French capital was $35.6 billion.
Who else made the list, then?
The WTTC list included three cities from each of the two nations. One was the United States, represented by Orlando, New York City, and Las Vegas.
Even though each city earns a sizable sum of money from tourism, they all cater to different types of tourists. For example, families who want to visit the city’s theme parks frequently choose Orlando, while gambling and nightlife enthusiasts flock to Las Vegas and New York City respectively.
Orlando had the greatest revenue of this group, bringing in $31 billion for 2022. There are a lot of Mickey Mouse ears there.
China is now developing tourism destination
For 2022, three Chinese cities—Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou—made the top 10.
Additional Chinese locations are rising in the ranking. Sanya, a beach resort on Hainan Island in southern China, and Macao were specifically mentioned as sites to watch in the future.
Since its border has been reopened, China has made significant investments in the tourism industry and is actively marketing to foreign tourists.
The only place in China with legal gambling is Macao, and unlike the mainland, it is simpler for most foreigners to travel there without a visa.
China will rule its ranks by 2032, according to the WTTC.
According to Julia Simpson, President & CEO of the WTTC, “major cities like London, Paris, and New York will remain global powerhouses, but over the next few years, Beijing, Shanghai, and Macao will be climbing up the list of top city destinations.”
Other notables
Of course, the WTTC list includes representation from more than two nations. To finish out the top ten, Tokyo, Mexico City, and London was ranked seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively.
Finding out who didn’t make the list was intriguing in some ways.
There were two unexpected omissions in the Middle East, whose popularity has soared in the last ten years.
Despite dominating the list of destinations with the highest amount of tourism money was the opulent Dubai and the soccer World Cup host Doha, they didn’t perform as well in the other categories and fell outside the top 10.
The same thing happened to Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Singapore, which received high marks for visitor spending but didn’t make the overall “most powerful” list.
The top cities in the world for tourism in 2022
1. Paris, France
2. Beijing, China
3. Orlando, Florida
4. Shanghai, China
5. Las Vegas, Nevada
6. New York, New York
7. Tokyo, Japan
8. Mexico City, Mexico
9. London, UK
10. Guangzhou, China