The two major city rankings published in 2026 put different places at the top. Bangkok scored 97.68 to lead the UK edition of Condé Nast Traveller's Readers' Choice Awards, while New York ranked first in the Global Tourism City Attractiveness Index from Yanolja Research, Purdue University and Kyung Hee University.
These results answer two questions readers are asking in 2026: which city did respondents most enjoy, and which destination performed best on a broader measure of attractiveness? Neither is a ranking of the most international arrivals in 2026. As of 23 October, the year was not over, and no fully comparable year-end figures existed for all the cities.
This analysis therefore starts with the two published 2026 top-ten lists. It then uses Euromonitor's 2025 international-arrivals ranking and its separately published 2024 figures to examine visitor volumes. Receipts come from completed statistical years or are explicitly identified as estimates. Votes and online sentiment must not be mistaken for actual arrivals.
The world's top ten city destinations in 2026
Condé Nast Traveller UK published its Readers' Choice Awards on 6 October 2026; Yanolja Research announced its index in July. The lists below describe two different ways of assessing destinations, not border entries or overnight stays.
| Rank | Condé Nast Traveller UK 2026 (score) | Yanolja Research 2026 (overall rank) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bangkok (97.68) | New York |
| 2 | Paris (97.14) | Paris |
| 3 | Istanbul (96.67) | Osaka |
| 4 | Rome (95.96) | Kyoto |
| 5 | Valletta (95.76) | Seoul |
| 6 | Shanghai (95.19) | London |
| 7 | Tokyo (94.76) | Rome |
| 8 | Seoul (93.76) | Bangkok |
| 9 | Sydney (92.72) | Okinawa |
| 10 | Amsterdam (92.44) | Chicago |
Sources: Condé Nast Traveller UK's 2026 Readers' Choice Awards and Yanolja Research's 2026 Global Tourism City Attractiveness Index. The latter assessed 261 destinations using online conversations in 14 languages and combined awareness with positive sentiment. It treats Okinawa as one destination even though the name also covers a broader geographical area.
Only four destinations appear in both top tens: Bangkok, Paris, Rome and Seoul. New York tops Yanolja's index but is eighteenth in Condé Nast Traveller UK's vote. Bangkok leads the UK readers' ranking but places eighth on Yanolja's composite index. Neither list can accurately be called a ranking of cities by tourist numbers.
A like-for-like annual ranking of foreign arrivals for 2026 will have to await comparable annual data. For now, Euromonitor's 2025 edition is the article's reference point for visitor volumes; figures from the 2024 edition provide context, rather than the lead news.
The cities with the most international arrivals in the 2025 ranking
Euromonitor International's reported international-arrivals estimates are shown in 2025 rank order, alongside numbers published in its 2024 edition. Both reports appeared in early December, before the calendar years had finished. Read them as estimates from different report vintages, not final official local statistics.
| City and 2025 rank | 2024 (million visits) | 2025 (million visits) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bangkok, Thailand | 32.4 | 30.3 |
| 2. Hong Kong | 20.5 | 23.2 |
| 3. London, United Kingdom | 21.7 | 22.7 |
| 4. Macao | 18.0 | 20.4 |
| 5. Istanbul, Türkiye | 23.0 | 19.7 |
| 6. Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 18.2 | 19.5 |
| 7. Mecca, Saudi Arabia | 19.3 | 18.7 |
| 8. Antalya, Türkiye | 19.3 | 18.6 |
| 9. Paris, France | 17.4 | 18.3 |
| 10. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 16.5 | 17.3 |
Sources: Euromonitor International's Top 100 City Destinations Index, 2024 and 2025 editions; the full 2025 list was cross-checked against Time Out and reports based on the same dataset. Values are rounded to one decimal place in millions.
Bangkok ranked first in both editions, although the 2025 estimate is below the number published a year earlier. Hong Kong and Macao moved up the ranking, while London remained the highest-ranked European city. Transport networks, border crossings, visa access, hub status and trip patterns all contribute to visitor volumes. Scenic appeal alone cannot explain the differences.
What lies behind the ten most-visited cities
The profiles below consistently use Euromonitor's 2025 estimates for ranks and arrivals. Official local figures may differ in geographical coverage or definitions. The 2026 discussion identifies factors to watch, not city-specific forecasts of visits or receipts.
1. Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok led the 2025 ranking with an estimated 30.3 million international arrivals, against 32.4 million reported in the 2024 edition. Its appeal extends beyond the Grand Palace, temples and street food. The city is also an air-travel hub, a centre for medical services, meetings and commerce, and a gateway to other Thai destinations. Travellers arriving in the same city can have very different purposes and spending patterns.
Visitor volume must be read alongside actual local receipts. Bangkok's provincial visitor-revenue series, covering both domestic and foreign visitors, puts 2025 receipts at 896.6 billion baht (approximately 27.28 billion USD), down from 942.2 billion baht (approximately 26.70 billion USD) in 2024. The two datasets do not measure identical populations, so dividing provincial receipts by Euromonitor's arrivals would not yield a defensible average spend per foreign visitor.
In 2026 Bangkok topped the UK readers' survey but ranked eighth in Yanolja's online-attractiveness index. Length of stay, spending per night, travel confidence and the share of tourism revenue reaching Thai businesses and workers matter more than simply maintaining the highest arrival count.
2. Hong Kong
Hong Kong placed second with 23.2 million estimated international arrivals, versus 20.5 million in the 2024 report. Its strengths include trade, food, conferences and links between mainland China and international markets. Rail and land-border access support substantial flows of both overnight visitors and short-stay travellers.
Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department counted 23,190,097 overnight visitors and 26,704,735 same-day visitors in the completed year 2025, giving a combined 49,894,832 visits. Replacing Euromonitor's 23.2 million with that almost 49.9 million total would be misleading: the latter includes day trips and potentially follows different statistical definitions.
Hong Kong's challenge in 2026 is to convert short visits into spending at hotels, restaurants, shops and urban attractions. The overnight share, average duration and expenditure per visitor are more useful indicators than border crossings alone.
3. London, United Kingdom
London ranked third at an estimated 22.7 million international arrivals in Euromonitor's 2025 report, compared with 21.7 million in its 2024 edition. Museums, theatres, universities, financial services and extensive international air links create demand across the year rather than in one holiday season.
VisitBritain's International Passenger Survey update, released on 16 October 2026, estimated about 19.3 million inbound visits involving London in 2025 and spending of 15.8 billion pounds (approximately 20.84 billion USD). That differs from Euromonitor's estimate. VisitBritain's statistics use another methodology, which is itself being revised; the discrepancy is not proof that either publisher counted incorrectly.
In 2026 London must retain business, cultural and educational visitors against rising accommodation and travel costs. Higher receipts can come from longer stays or greater spending per guest, even without annual increases in visitor numbers.
4. Macao
Macao placed fourth with 20.4 million estimated international arrivals, compared with 18.0 million in Euromonitor's 2024 edition. Large hotels, entertainment, restaurants, shopping and conferences serve a market heavily influenced by arrivals from mainland China and Hong Kong. The profile differs from a destination built mainly on longer leisure stays.
Macao's official 2025 count reached 40,069,360 visits, comprising 23,524,943 same-day trips and 16,544,417 overnight stays; average duration across visitors was 1.1 days. Total non-gaming visitor expenditure rose 6.3% that year, but spending per visitor fell 7.3%. More arrivals do not necessarily mean greater value per trip.
Authorities reported a 17.4% year-on-year increase in non-gaming visitor expenditure in the first half of 2026. That is a useful signal, not a full-year result. Non-gaming spending cannot be described as all of Macao's tourism revenue, because it excludes gaming. Distribution to hotels, restaurants and smaller firms also matters.
5. Istanbul, Türkiye
Euromonitor estimated 19.7 million international arrivals in Istanbul in 2025, against 23.0 million in its earlier 2024 edition. Its position between Europe and Asia combines heritage attractions such as Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace with major airports, conferences and connecting flights.
Turkish entry statistics may count border-crossing points, whereas hotel stays and nights use other measures. Analysts must distinguish passengers merely connecting, visitors who stay in Istanbul and travellers entering through the city before going elsewhere. The figures from separate Euromonitor editions also should not be subtracted to infer an annual growth rate.
Year-round travel options are Istanbul's advantage in 2026. Service costs, exchange rates, access to attractions and regional confidence remain risks. Overnight stays and receipts for local businesses are essential economic measures alongside arrival rankings.
6. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai ranked sixth with 19.5 million arrivals in Euromonitor's 2025 edition, against 18.2 million in 2024. International airlines, hotels, shopping, exhibitions and global conferences connect holiday travel with business and transit markets.
Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism counted 19.59 million international overnight visitors in the completed 2025 year, versus 18.72 million in 2024, an increase of 5% by its own method. The figure is close to Euromonitor's 19.5 million but is not interchangeable with it in every statistical comparison.
Dubai's opportunity in 2026 is to turn its flight connectivity into longer hotel stays, retail sales and high-value business events. Competition for guests, travel costs and conditions in source markets put pressure on room revenue and spending per visitor, not only on capacity growth.
7. Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Mecca ranked seventh with 18.7 million estimated arrivals in Euromonitor's 2025 report, against 19.3 million in the 2024 edition. Unlike a conventional leisure city, much of its demand is driven by the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, with distinct schedules, regulations and systems for serving religious visitors.
Saudi Arabia's Pilgrim Experience Program reported around 19.5 million international Hajj and Umrah pilgrims nationwide in 2025. That nationwide measure is neither a count of overnight stays in Mecca nor the same series as Euromonitor's city estimate. The numbers should not be reconciled by simple addition or subtraction.
In 2026 the main issues include managing peak pilgrimage demand, safety, transport, accommodation and service standards. Income from hotels, transport and pilgrimage services must be assessed against infrastructure and crowd-management costs.
8. Antalya, Türkiye
Antalya ranked eighth at 18.6 million estimated international arrivals in 2025, compared with 19.3 million in the 2024 report. Unlike Istanbul, this Mediterranean destination relies heavily on resorts, beaches, packaged holidays and short-haul or charter flights. Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom are important markets.
Türkiye's tourism ministry recorded more than 16.3 million foreign visitors to Antalya from January to October 2025. Antalya Airport reported approximately 39.1 million passengers of all types for the full year. Airport traffic includes departures and domestic travellers, and must not be presented as 39.1 million foreign tourist arrivals.
In 2026 Antalya faces the challenge of spreading demand beyond summer, managing accommodation capacity and responding to energy and travel costs for European guests. Airport expansion increases potential capacity but does not guarantee receipts per night if package-tour prices come under pressure.
9. Paris, France
Paris ranked ninth in Euromonitor's arrivals list with 18.3 million in 2025, against 17.4 million in its 2024 edition. Yet it led Euromonitor's wider city-destination index and placed second in Condé Nast Traveller UK's 2026 readers' vote. Culture, art, fashion, food and infrastructure can support a high overall score without delivering the largest arrival count.
Choose Paris Region reported nearly 50 million visitors to Paris and the wider Île-de-France region in 2025, including more than 23 million international visitors, with tourism's economic impact approaching 24 billion euros (approximately 27.13 billion USD). That is a regional figure covering different visitor groups, not receipts within the Paris city boundary or spending by precisely the 18.3 million Euromonitor arrivals.
The 2026 challenge is to turn post-2024-Olympics attention into repeat visits and longer stays while managing accommodation costs, public space and resident satisfaction. The value of cultural and higher-end tourism needs to be considered alongside its impact on the city.
10. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur completed Euromonitor's top ten with 17.3 million estimated international arrivals in 2025, against 16.5 million in the 2024 report. The city is a Malaysian transport and meeting hub, offering shopping, food and links to nearby destinations. Both foreign visitors and domestic demand support local services.
Malaysia's Department of Statistics reported 35.1 million domestic visitors in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur in 2025 and 16.9 billion ringgit (approximately 3.95 billion USD) in domestic tourism expenditure. These figures concern Malaysian visitors and are not an estimate of all receipts from Euromonitor's 17.3 million international arrivals.
Malaysia's Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign may draw attention to the destination. Turning that attention into city receipts will depend on overnight stays, transport links, hotels, retail and visitor spending. National tourism totals cannot substitute for Kuala Lumpur-specific results.
Why subtracting the two annual reports can give the wrong growth rate
Euromonitor's 2024 edition listed 23.0 million arrivals for Istanbul, whereas the 2025 edition gave 19.7 million. Yet some coverage of the later report described Istanbul as growing by about 6% in 2025. Those statements do not reconcile if the figures from the two separate editions are treated as a single consistent annual series.
To calculate growth, readers need matching base years, methods, revisions and report vintages. Publicly available material does not establish the precise reason for this discrepancy, and it would be wrong to invent a revised baseline. Here the rankings illustrate market size in each publication, not year-on-year growth for every city.
The best city depends on who is doing the ranking
Best-loved and most-visited cities are often discussed as if they were one concept, but the underlying indicators are different.
| Ranking | Number one | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Euromonitor International 2025 | Bangkok | International arrivals to the city |
| Condé Nast Traveller UK 2026 | Bangkok | Votes from the magazine's readers |
| Yanolja Research, Purdue and Kyung Hee 2026 | New York | Online awareness and sentiment about destinations |
In the 2026 UK Readers' Choice Awards, Bangkok scored 97.68, Paris 97.14 and Istanbul 96.67. The survey reflects the views of its participating readers, not a census of all international travellers. It must also be distinguished from the US edition of Condé Nast Traveler, which uses its own city categories and rankings.
Yanolja Research's 2026 Global Tourism City Attractiveness Index uses conversations in 14 languages to assess awareness and positive sentiment. New York ranked first, followed by Paris, Osaka, Kyoto and Seoul; Bangkok ranked eighth. Online discussion volumes and their composition shape the results. A lower score does not imply fewer actual visitors.
Euromonitor itself provides another example. Paris topped its broader 2025 composite city index, which includes infrastructure, sustainability, economic and policy factors, while Bangkok led only its international-arrivals table. Both can be true simultaneously.
Key insight Having the most visitors is a measure of volume, while a high preference score reflects experience. Economic benefit, however, also depends on nights stayed, visitor expenditure and how income reaches local companies and workers.
What the final official figures can tell us
Dubai's completed-year statistics illustrate the difference between preliminary rankings and local series: 19.59 million international overnight visitors in 2025 versus 18.72 million in 2024, compared with Euromonitor's 19.5 million estimate for 2025. Similar results do not mean the two publishers use identical definitions.
Hong Kong highlights the issue more sharply. Its official total of 49.89 million visits in 2025 includes same-day trips, whereas the overnight count was 23.19 million. The total cannot be directly compared with an estimate focused on another visitor population. Macao has a similarly large same-day segment.
Arrivals are an indicator of demand and pressure on infrastructure. Overnight stays more closely reflect activity at hotels, restaurants and other services. A fixed amount of revenue per arrival is not a meaningful assumption, because visitors spend and stay for very different lengths of time.
What Bangkok's tourism receipts in 2024 and 2025 reveal
ThailandStats' September 2026 compilation of Ministry of Tourism and Sports provincial data records Bangkok visitor receipts of 942.2 billion baht (approximately 26.70 billion USD) in 2024 and 896.6 billion baht (approximately 27.28 billion USD) in 2025, including domestic and foreign visitors. In baht terms that is a decline of approximately 4.8%.
The dollar comparisons use annual-average rates from the US Federal Reserve: 35.2845 Thai baht per USD in 2024 and 32.8619 in 2025. Thus baht revenue fell even as the converted dollar value increased because the baht strengthened. That is a currency effect, not evidence of real tourism growth.
These provincial receipts cannot be combined directly with Euromonitor's foreign-arrival figures. The provincial data include Thai and foreign visitors under local counting rules. An earlier Thai statistical yearbook also published a slightly different 2024 amount before revisions, so the comparison uses 2024 and 2025 from the same revised series.
How will tourist cities earn money in 2026?
Tourism Economics' Travel Spending in Cities analysis, released in February and updated in July 2026, forecast around 931 billion USD in international visitor spending in 2026 across the 340-plus cities in its Global City Travel dataset, rising to 1.36 trillion USD by 2031. Those cities account for roughly 41% of international overnight stays but 49% of spending.
The 931 billion USD figure describes the sampled group of more than 340 cities, not Euromonitor's ten leading cities and not Bangkok alone. Spending per night is critical. A destination that encourages longer stays, higher-value services and greater local retention of expenditure may generate more economic value than a busy transit city.
Spending patterns also vary by region. Tourism Economics notes that accommodation is a major budget component for visitors to European cities; retail is particularly prominent in US cities; and food-and-beverage shares are lower in some Asia-Pacific markets. Visitor numbers and receipts in each sector therefore need not rise at the same pace.
Three scenarios for Bangkok's 2026 tourism receipts
Using Bangkok's 2025 receipts of 896.6 billion baht (approximately 27.28 billion USD) as a historical starting point, an editorial sensitivity exercise tests a 5% decline, no change and a 5% increase in 2026. No forecasting institution is being credited with these hypothetical outcomes.
| Change from 2025 | Illustrative Bangkok receipts in 2026 | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Down 5% | 851.8 billion baht (approximately 25.31 billion USD) | Pressure on visits or spending per trip |
| Unchanged | 896.6 billion baht (approximately 26.64 billion USD) | Baht receipts stay level |
| Up 5% | 941.4 billion baht (approximately 27.98 billion USD) | More overnight stays or higher spending required |
The USD equivalents in this table use a Bank of Thailand reference of 33.65 Thai baht per USD on 22 October 2026, held constant for comparison. It is not a full-year exchange-rate forecast. The 2026 outcomes remain scenarios until final receipts become available.
Which outcome materialises depends on source-market economic conditions, travel confidence, trip length, hotel rates, competition from other cities and the proportion of spending retained by businesses in Thailand, not just extra flights or events.
How should the busiest tourist cities compete next?
A high ranking attracts potential business for airlines, hotels, restaurants, retailers and event organisers. Yet visitor pressure also creates congestion, waste, public-transport needs and housing costs. If public costs outgrow income retained locally, a larger arrival count does not necessarily mean a greater net economic benefit.
Cities should therefore measure receipts per overnight stay, job quality, income distribution, visitor satisfaction and costs borne by residents alongside arrivals. Bangkok need not pursue ever-rising visitor volumes if it can increase the value of spending and reduce local burdens.
Key takeaway Bangkok led Euromonitor's estimated international-arrivals ranking in 2025 and Condé Nast Traveller UK's reader vote in 2026, but stood eighth in an index of online attractiveness. Its 2026 receipts must be assessed separately using actual historical revenue and explicitly uncertain scenarios, rather than inferred from popularity rankings.
