Asian cities leading charge as global destinations: MasterCard Index

Destinations in Asia Pacific are key players in the movement of the world economy in favor of emerging markets, according to the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Global Destination Cities released on June 1.

The index results show that many emerging markets are showing robust growth with increases in both visitor arrivals and cross-border expenditures, with many showing growth rates exceeding 20 percent.

Cities in Asia Pacific led the charge globally, having eight of the top 20 cities by international arrivals, with Bangkok ranking third with a projected 11.5 million visitors this year, followed by Singapore in fourth rank with 11.4 million visitors and Hong Kong fifth with 10.9 million visitors.

Asia also displayed strong visitor growth for 2011, with Kuala Lumpur ranked second in the world with a 21.8 percent growth forecast, behind only Barcelona, which led with an impressive 24.3 percent. Istanbul ranked third with 20.4 percent, followed by Shanghai (18.6 percent) and Hong Kong (17.4 percent).

 “As the global center of economic gravity shifts inexorably to the dynamic emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and Africa, cities there will correspondingly play ever bigger roles in knitting the world together,” said MasterCard Worldwide global economic advisor Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong.