Colombo – fastest growing city in the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index
View(s):Colombo has become the fastest growing city in terms of international, overnight visitor numbers in the annual MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index released this week.
“The rapid rise in tourism after the end of Sri Lanka’s long running civil war brought about Colombo’s double-digit cumulative annual growth rate over the last six years,” the company said in an announcement. Seven of the top 10 fastest growing cities by visitor number over this period are in Asia. The forecasted top 10 fastest growing cities are: Colombo – 21.1%, Chengdu – 20.7%, Abu Dhabi – 20.4%, Osaka – 19.8%, Riyadh – 18.0%, Xi An – 16.2%, Taipei – 14.9%, Tokyo – 14.6%, Lima – 13.9% and Ho Chi Minh City – 12.9%
In addition, Asian cities continue to dominate the index, making up half of the top 10. Bangkok has retained its position at number two with 18.24 million international overnight visitors and is catching up with top-ranked city, London. Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and Hong Kong round off the top ten, taking seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place respectively.
Forecasted international overnight visitors to the top 10 cities: London – 18.82 million, Bangkok – 18.24 million, Paris – 16.06 million, Dubai – 14.26 million, Istanbul – 12.56 million, New York – 12.27 million, Singapore – 11.88 million, Kuala Lumpur – 11.12 million, Seoul – 10.35 million and Hong Kong – 8.66 million.
Vikas Varma, Executive Director, South Asia for MasterCard, said, “Colombo’s ranking as the fastest growing city on MasterCard’s latest Global Destination Cities Index reflects the rising appeal of Sri Lanka as a tourist destination. Having been in the market for over 25 years, MasterCard sees great potential in the island nation’.