In which cities are tourists spending the most money?

London has been ranked the top city for tourist spending by the MasterCard 2015 Global Destination Cities Index.

The report looks at how much international visitors spend in 132 cities each year. Information is sourced from official statistics or estimated using data from visitor surveys.

Tourists visiting London in 2015 are projected to spend $20.23 billion – a 2.3% increase on 2014 – making the city the top one when it comes to international visitor spending.

New York is second, with $17.37 billion, an increase on 2014. It overtook Paris, where visitors are expected to spend $16.61 billion in 2015. Seoul, Singapore and Barcelona also feature in the top 10.

Bangkok, which came in 7th with $12.36 billion, is the fastest growing city in terms of visitor spending, with an 11.8% increase on 2014.

Tokyo, where visitors are set to spend 6.8% less in 2015, saw the greatest fall, and the city dropped out of the top 10. It is followed by Sydney, which had a decreased visitor spending of 4.8%.

The decline of visitor spending in 2015 experienced by some countries could be the result of their currencies depreciating against the US dollar, which is used to estimate spending. Thailand’s, Malaysia’s and Turkey’s currencies have all depreciated against the US dollar; however, their visitor spending has increased, which compensated for the effects of currency depreciation.

Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: Emma Luxton is a Digital Content Producer at Formative Content. 

Image: A woman holds a Union flag umbrella in front of the Big Ben clock tower. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor.