Singapore Takes Second Spot in MasterCard’s Inaugural Asia Pacific Destinations Index

Guess which city took the top spot?

Singapore secured second position as the region’s most popular destination, with international overnight visitors reaching 11.8 million. Clinching the top spot was Bangkok, leading the pack at 21.9 million visitors and Tokyo placed third, coming in very closely behind Singapore at 11.8 million visitors.

Thailand dominated the top ten list, with three destinations – Bangkok in first place (21.9 million), Phuket in fifth place (9.3 million) and the coastal city of Pattaya coming in at eighth place (8.1 million).

Half of the top 10 destinations saw 10 percent growth or more in international overnight visitor numbers between 2014 and 2015 – Osaka (54.0 percent), Tokyo (53.2 percent), Bangkok (28.6 percent), Phuket (15.5 percent) and Pattaya (10.0 percent).

The top 20 destinations of Asia Pacific represent around half of all international overnight arrivals to the 167 Asia Pacific destinations covered by the Index.

The top ten Asia Pacific destinations ranked by international overnight visitor numbers:

1.       Bangkok – 21.9 million 2.       Singapore – 11.8  million 3.       Tokyo  – 11.8 million 4.       Kuala Lumpur – 11.3 million 5.       Phuket – 9.3 million

6.       Seoul – 9.2 million 7.       Hong Kong – 8.3 million 8.       Pattaya – 8.1 million 9.       Bali – 7.2 million 10.     Osaka – 6.5 million

The top three origin markets for Singapore account for more than one-third of total arrivals, with the highest number of inbound tourists from Indonesia (16.1 percent) followed by China (13.9 percent) and India (7.3 percent).

Asia Pacific’s tourism industry is the largest in the world by total contribution to GDP, having overtaken Europe in 2014. Tourism contributed US$2.27 trillion to Asia Pacific economies and 153.7 million jobs in 2015.

Singapore ranked third in total expenditure at US$14.1 billion, closely trailing behind Seoul (US$14.4 billion) in second place and Bangkok (US$15.2 billion) in first place. Tokyo (US$11.9 billion) came in fourth, followed by Kuala Lumpur (US$10.5 billion) at fifth place.

The top ten Asia Pacific destinations by total expenditure:

1.       Bangkok – US$15.2 billion 2.       Seoul – US$14.4 billion 3.       Singapore  – US$14.1 billion 4.       Tokyo – US$11.9 billion 5.       Kuala Lumpur – US$10.5 billion

6.       Bali – US$10.3 billion 7.       Taipei – US$9.5 billion 8.       Phuket – US$8.0 billion 9.       Hong Kong – US$6.7 billion 10.     Sydney – US$6.0 billion

Of the top 20 destinations by total expenditure per day, Shanghai (US$269 per day) welcomed the biggest spenders, followed by Beijing (US$262 per day), Seoul (US$258 per day), Singapore (US$255 per day) and Hong Kong (US$240 per day).

The full report can be downloaded from: http://news.mstr.cd/1K7yieX