Bangkok leads Asia Pacific tourist spending by Karnjana Karnjanatawe

Bangkok will lead other Asia Pacific countries in terms of international tourist arrivals and spending. The city will also be in the 3rd global position regarding the highest numbers of visitors in 2011, according to recent research by MasterCard.

Bangkok will welcome 11.5 million foreign visitors who will spend US$14.4 billion (432 billion baht) in 2011.

According to Bangkok Posts, the MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities found that there will be 20.1 million visitors to visit London followed by 18.1 million to Paris and 11.5 million to Bangkok – slightly higher than Singapore in 4th place with 11.4 million visitors and Hong Kong in 5th position with 10.9 million international arrivals.

For the top five destination cities in the Asia Pacific based on visitor expenditure, Bangkok comes in top position again with an estimated total visitor expenditure of US$14.4 billion in 2011, followed by Sydney (US$13.8 billion), Singapore (US$10.8 billion), Hong Kong (US$10.4 billion) and Seoul (US$10.2 billion).

The research also found that the top five visitors to Bangkok are from Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul and London. However, spending by visitors from Hong Kong, estimated at US$1.5 billion, is the largest.

The top five cities that have the largest tourist spending are London (US$25.6 billion), New York (US$20.3 billion), Paris (US$14.6 billion), Bangkok (US$14.4 billion) and Frankfurt (US$14 billion).