Recent results form the latest Mastercard Asia-Pacific Destinations Index 2017 have revealed Bangkok is once again the Top Destination in the Asia-Pacific, in terms of visitor numbers.
The capital city of Thailand welcomed 19.3 million international overnight visitors last year, placing it in the number one spot of the index which ranks 171 destinations, across 22 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The index includes resorts, towns, and cities, ranking them in terms of the total number of international overnight arrivals, cross-border spending, and the total number of nights spent at each destination.
According to the report, a total of 339.2 million visits were made to the Asia-Pacific in 2016, with Thailand’s Phuket and Pattaya also placing in the Top Ten on the index, with 9.1 million and 8.1 million visitors, respectively.
Bangkok also topped the list of total nights stayed with 87.6 million nights, and came in at second place for overall tourism expenditure in the region, with a total of US $12.7 billion.
“Bangkok once again takes top place in the Mastercard listing, showing how attractive the city is to tourists and business travellers who visit knowing they’ll find a city that will impress and meet their needs,” Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn said.
“Whether they are just passing through or want to explore the amazing shopping, food scene, history and entertainment, visitors find that in this most exciting of destinations, there’s something for everyone.”
The Mastercard Asia-Pacific Destinations Index The index is an off-shoot of the annual Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index and reflects the increasing importance of the Asia-Pacific region for tourism, of which five of the ten most visited cities in the world in 2016 were from.
