If you visited Hong Kong in 2016, you were in good company. For the ninth year in a row, Hong Kong took the title as the most popular city for international tourists, with Hong Kong welcoming 26 million visitors according to travel market research firm Euromonitor International’s 2017 Top 100 City Destinations survey. The number is down from the previous year due to tensions with neighboring Beijing, but Hong Kong is expected to only get more popular in the coming years.
Bangkok came in second thanks to a rise in tour groups, while London claimed the third spot pulling in more than 19 million international visitors in just one year. It’s no surprise that New York City was the most popular city in the United States coming in eighth with 12.65 million international tourists, and Miami was the only other American city represented at the top of the list, rounding out the top 20 with 7.8 million international visitors.
RELATED: Love Affair With Hong Kong
The list of the top 20 destinations for 2016 and the predictions for 2017 can be found below:
Hong Kong: 26.55 million in 2016; 25.7 million expected in 2017 (-3.2% growth).
Bangkok: 21.25 million in 2016; 23.27 expected in 2017 (9.5% growth).
London: 19.19 million in 2016; 19.8 expected in 2017 (3.4% growth).
Singapore: 16.6 million in 2016; 17.6 million expected in 2017 (3.4% growth).
Macau: 15.39 million in 2016; 16.3 million expected in 2017 (5.9% growth).
Dubai: 14.9 million in 2016; 16.57 million expected in 2017 (11.2% growth).
Paris: 14.39 million in 2016; 14.26 million expected in 2017 (-0.9% growth).
New York City: 12.65 million in 2016; 13.1 million expected in 2017 (3.6% growth).
Shenzhen, China: 12.57 million in 2016; 12.96 million expected in 2017 (3.1% growth).
Kuala Lumpur: 12.29 million in 2016; 12.8 million expected in 2017 (4.5% growth).
Phuket, Thailand: 10.6 million in 2016; 12 million expected in 2017 (14% growth).
Rome: 9.4 million in 2016; 9.6 million expected in 2017 (1.8% growth).
Tokyo: 9.27 million in 2016; 9.7 million expected in 2017 (4.8% growth).
Taipei: 9.2 million in 2016; 9.3 million expected in 2017 (1% growth).
Istanbul: 9.17 million in 2016; 8.6 million expected in 2016 (-5.8% growth).
Seoul: 9 million in 2016; 7.66 million expected in 2017 (-14.9% growth).
Guangzhou, China: 8.6 million in 2016; 9 million expected in 2017 (5.3% growth).
Prague: 8.18 million in 2016; 8.5 million expected in 2017 (4.5% growth).
Mecca, Saudi Arabia: 7.96 million in 2016; 8.7 million expected in 2017 (9.8% growth).
Miami, Florida: 7.8 million in 2016; 8 million in 2017 (3.1% growth).
Have a travel story to tell? Share it with Travel Noire! Submit your travel story here and you may be featured on TravelNoire.com.