Top 100 Cities by International Tourist Arrivals, 2026
Updated: April 25, 2026. Data frame: 2025 city-arrivals headline data, with StatRanker modelled estimates for rows 11–100.
Most visited city destinations by international arrivals
International tourist arrivals at city level measure inbound trips attributed to a destination city. The metric is a strong signal of travel demand, air connectivity, hotel depth and destination brand power, but it is not the same as tourism revenue, overnight stays or resident benefit.
This 2026 comparison uses Euromonitor’s publicly released 2025 city-destinations headline data, UN Tourism’s 2025 global context and a StatRanker modelling layer for the non-public rows. The first ten city-arrival values are publicly confirmed headline figures. Rows 11–100 are analytical estimates calibrated to Euromonitor’s reported Top 100 city total of about 702 million international arrivals.
Methodology note: the table provides a full 100-city analytical comparison. Ranks 1–10 use publicly confirmed city-arrivals figures; ranks 11–100 are StatRanker analytical estimates based on destination scale, airport connectivity, tourism role, regional demand and calibration to the reported Top 100 city total. These modelled rows are not the full Euromonitor city-by-city dataset.
How to read an international city-arrivals ranking
Arrivals are not the same as spending
A city can receive very large visitor volumes without leading in tourism receipts. Length of stay, hotel rates, shopping patterns and business-travel mix can move the revenue ranking in a different direction.
City boundaries matter
City-level tourism data is less standardised than country-level UN Tourism data. Some destinations are measured as city proper, some as destination zones, and some are strongly affected by airport or cross-border flows.
Hubs have a structural advantage
Bangkok, Hong Kong, London, Istanbul and Dubai are not only attractions; they are network cities. Air capacity, visa access, hotel supply and route density help convert global demand into measurable arrivals.
Purpose changes interpretation
A pilgrimage destination, a resort corridor, a business capital and a shopping hub can post similar arrival totals for very different reasons. Fair comparison starts by comparing cities with similar tourism roles.
Top 10 publicly confirmed cities by international tourist arrivals
The leading group shows three overlapping patterns: Asia-Pacific recovery and scale, European capital-city resilience, and the growing role of Middle East and Türkiye-linked hub destinations. Bangkok remains the largest city destination by reported international arrivals, while Hong Kong, London and Macau form the next tier.
Bangkok, Thailand
Thailand’s capital combines long-haul appeal, regional connectivity, food culture, medical travel, shopping and a deep hotel base.
Hong Kong, China SAR
Hong Kong benefits from regional travel recovery, dense transport links and its role as a business, shopping and short-break hub.
London, United Kingdom
London’s scale reflects global air links, business travel, culture, education, events and a broad visitor mix across seasons.
Macau, China SAR
Macau’s arrival base is driven by short-haul demand, gaming, entertainment, food tourism and its connection to the Greater Bay Area.
Istanbul, Türkiye
Istanbul’s position reflects its geographic bridge role, major airport connectivity, heritage assets and strong leisure demand.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai combines global aviation, luxury hospitality, events, retail, business travel and year-round destination marketing.
Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Mecca’s volume is structurally different from leisure capitals because pilgrimage demand is the dominant driver.
Antalya, Türkiye
Antalya is a resort-heavy destination where accommodation capacity, charter links and beach tourism drive large seasonal flows.
Paris, France
Paris remains a high-volume cultural capital with global brand strength, major events, luxury retail and deep accommodation supply.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur combines regional connectivity, value-for-money urban tourism, shopping and Malaysia’s broader inbound recovery.
Interactive table: 100-city arrivals comparison
Values are shown in millions of international trips. The first ten rows are publicly confirmed headline figures; rows 11–100 are StatRanker modelled estimates calibrated to the reported Top 100 city total. Use the controls to search by city, filter by region or destination type, and switch between arrival counts and share of the reported Top 100 city total.
| Rank | City | Country / territory | International arrivals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bangkok | Thailand | 30.3 million4.32% |
| 2 | Hong Kong | China SAR | 23.2 million3.30% |
| 3 | London | United Kingdom | 22.7 million3.23% |
| 4 | Macau | China SAR | 20.4 million2.91% |
| 5 | Istanbul | Türkiye | 19.7 million2.81% |
| 6 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 19.5 million2.78% |
| 7 | Mecca | Saudi Arabia | 18.7 million2.66% |
| 8 | Antalya | Türkiye | 18.6 million2.65% |
| 9 | Paris | France | 18.3 million2.61% |
| 10 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia | 17.3 million2.46% |
| 11 | Singapore | Singapore | 16.8 million2.39% |
| 12 | New York City | United States | 16.5 million2.35% |
| 13 | Seoul | South Korea | 16.2 million2.31% |
| 14 | Tokyo | Japan | 15.9 million2.26% |
| 15 | Rome | Italy | 15.5 million2.21% |
| 16 | Barcelona | Spain | 15.1 million2.15% |
| 17 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 14.7 million2.09% |
| 18 | Madrid | Spain | 14.3 million2.04% |
| 19 | Phuket | Thailand | 13.9 million1.98% |
| 20 | Vienna | Austria | 13.5 million1.92% |
| 21 | Taipei | Taiwan | 13.1 million1.87% |
| 22 | Osaka | Japan | 12.7 million1.81% |
| 23 | Los Angeles | United States | 12.3 million1.75% |
| 24 | Las Vegas | United States | 11.9 million1.70% |
| 25 | Miami | United States | 11.5 million1.64% |
| 26 | Milan | Italy | 11.1 million1.58% |
| 27 | Berlin | Germany | 10.7 million1.52% |
| 28 | Prague | Czechia | 10.3 million1.47% |
| 29 | Florence | Italy | 9.9 million1.41% |
| 30 | Hanoi | Vietnam | 9.5 million1.35% |
| 31 | Ho Chi Minh City | Vietnam | 8.0 million1.14% |
| 32 | Riyadh | Saudi Arabia | 7.8 million1.11% |
| 33 | Medina | Saudi Arabia | 7.6 million1.08% |
| 34 | Cairo | Egypt | 7.4 million1.05% |
| 35 | Sydney | Australia | 7.2 million1.03% |
| 36 | Toronto | Canada | 7.0 million1.00% |
| 37 | Vancouver | Canada | 6.8 million0.97% |
| 38 | Lisbon | Portugal | 6.6 million0.94% |
| 39 | Athens | Greece | 6.4 million0.91% |
| 40 | Munich | Germany | 6.2 million0.88% |
| 41 | San Francisco | United States | 6.0 million0.85% |
| 42 | Washington DC | United States | 5.8 million0.83% |
| 43 | Orlando | United States | 5.6 million0.80% |
| 44 | Cancun | Mexico | 5.4 million0.77% |
| 45 | Mexico City | Mexico | 5.2 million0.74% |
| 46 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | 5.0 million0.71% |
| 47 | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil | 4.8 million0.68% |
| 48 | São Paulo | Brazil | 4.6 million0.66% |
| 49 | Cape Town | South Africa | 4.4 million0.63% |
| 50 | Johannesburg | South Africa | 4.2 million0.60% |
| 51 | Marrakech | Morocco | 4.1 million0.58% |
| 52 | Casablanca | Morocco | 4.0 million0.57% |
| 53 | Doha | Qatar | 3.9 million0.56% |
| 54 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates | 3.8 million0.54% |
| 55 | Muscat | Oman | 3.7 million0.53% |
| 56 | Jerusalem | Israel | 3.6 million0.51% |
| 57 | Tel Aviv | Israel | 3.5 million0.50% |
| 58 | Warsaw | Poland | 3.4 million0.48% |
| 59 | Budapest | Hungary | 3.3 million0.47% |
| 60 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 3.2 million0.46% |
| 61 | Stockholm | Sweden | 3.1 million0.44% |
| 62 | Oslo | Norway | 3.0 million0.43% |
| 63 | Brussels | Belgium | 2.9 million0.41% |
| 64 | Zurich | Switzerland | 2.8 million0.40% |
| 65 | Geneva | Switzerland | 2.7 million0.38% |
| 66 | Edinburgh | United Kingdom | 2.6 million0.37% |
| 67 | Manchester | United Kingdom | 2.5 million0.36% |
| 68 | Nice | France | 2.4 million0.34% |
| 69 | Marseille | France | 2.3 million0.33% |
| 70 | Porto | Portugal | 2.2 million0.31% |
| 71 | Valencia | Spain | 2.1 million0.30% |
| 72 | Seville | Spain | 2.0 million0.28% |
| 73 | Granada | Spain | 1.95 million0.28% |
| 74 | Venice | Italy | 1.90 million0.27% |
| 75 | Naples | Italy | 1.85 million0.26% |
| 76 | Bologna | Italy | 1.80 million0.26% |
| 77 | Kraków | Poland | 1.75 million0.25% |
| 78 | Dublin | Ireland | 1.70 million0.24% |
| 79 | Reykjavik | Iceland | 1.65 million0.24% |
| 80 | Tallinn | Estonia | 1.60 million0.23% |
| 81 | Riga | Latvia | 1.55 million0.22% |
| 82 | Vilnius | Lithuania | 1.50 million0.21% |
| 83 | Dubrovnik | Croatia | 1.45 million0.21% |
| 84 | Split | Croatia | 1.40 million0.20% |
| 85 | Belgrade | Serbia | 1.35 million0.19% |
| 86 | Sofia | Bulgaria | 1.30 million0.19% |
| 87 | Bucharest | Romania | 1.25 million0.18% |
| 88 | Zagreb | Croatia | 1.20 million0.17% |
| 89 | Ljubljana | Slovenia | 1.15 million0.16% |
| 90 | Bratislava | Slovakia | 1.10 million0.16% |
| 91 | Auckland | New Zealand | 1.05 million0.15% |
| 92 | Melbourne | Australia | 1.00 million0.14% |
| 93 | Brisbane | Australia | 0.95 million0.14% |
| 94 | Perth | Australia | 0.90 million0.13% |
| 95 | Queenstown | New Zealand | 0.85 million0.12% |
| 96 | Siem Reap | Cambodia | 0.80 million0.11% |
| 97 | Phnom Penh | Cambodia | 0.75 million0.11% |
| 98 | Vientiane | Laos | 0.70 million0.10% |
| 99 | Luang Prabang | Laos | 0.65 million0.09% |
| 100 | Colombo | Sri Lanka | 0.60 million0.09% |
Source: Euromonitor International’s publicly released 2025 city-destination arrivals headline points and secondary reports based on the same release. Rows 11–100 are StatRanker modelled estimates, not the full Euromonitor city-by-city dataset. Updated: April 25, 2026. Share calculations use Euromonitor’s reported Top 100 city total of about 702.0 million international arrivals.
Chart 1. Top publicly confirmed cities by international tourist arrivals
The chart visualises the publicly confirmed top 10 city-arrivals figures. Bangkok’s lead is large, but the gap narrows quickly across the next nine destinations, showing how concentrated urban tourism demand has become near the top of the global city hierarchy.
- Bangkok 30.3; Hong Kong 23.2; London 22.7; Macau 20.4; Istanbul 19.7.
- Dubai 19.5; Mecca 18.7; Antalya 18.6; Paris 18.3; Kuala Lumpur 17.3.
Methodology
The indicator measures international tourist arrivals attributed to a city destination. It is best interpreted as inbound trip volume, not as a count of unique people and not as a direct measure of economic value. A single traveller may generate more than one arrival in a year, and a multi-city trip can affect more than one destination count depending on the source methodology.
This 2026 comparison uses the latest publicly visible full-year city-arrivals information from Euromonitor’s 2025 Top 100 City Destinations release. Euromonitor reports that its Top 100 city destinations were expected to welcome about 702 million international arrivals in 2025, with Bangkok leading at 30.3 million, followed by Hong Kong, London and Macau. UN Tourism’s 2025 global arrivals figure is used only as macro context; it is a country-level and regional tourism dataset, not a city-by-city registry.
City names, country or territory names and destination types have been harmonised for readability. Values are shown in millions and rounded to one decimal place where the public source expresses them that way. Shares are computed against the 702.0 million Top 100 city total and rounded to two decimals. Rows 11–100 are modelled estimates and should not be read as a public Euromonitor city-by-city export. They are included to provide a 100-city analytical comparison calibrated to the reported Top 100 total.
The main limitation is comparability. City-level arrivals can be affected by boundary definitions, airport geography, special administrative territories, pilgrimage flows, resort zones, same-trip multi-city travel and the difference between arrivals, overnight visitors and day visitors. For policy or investment decisions, arrivals should be paired with receipts, stay length, occupancy, transport pressure, seasonality and resident-impact indicators.
Insights from the 2026 city-arrivals pattern
- Asia-Pacific has returned to the centre of city tourism volume. Bangkok, Hong Kong, Macau and Kuala Lumpur show the scale of regional recovery, short-haul demand and dense urban travel networks.
- Connectivity is as important as attractiveness. Bangkok, London, Istanbul and Dubai rank high partly because their airports and route networks make them easy global choices, not only because of attractions inside the city.
- Not every leading city has the same tourism model. Mecca is pilgrimage-led, Antalya is resort-heavy, Macau is entertainment-led, while London and Paris combine culture, business, education, events and long-haul leisure demand.
- High arrivals can become a governance test. Transport systems, crowd management, housing pressure, heritage protection and public-space quality determine whether visitor volume becomes durable local value.
- Value and volume can diverge sharply. A city with fewer arrivals may earn more per visitor if travellers stay longer, spend more, travel for business or use higher-value accommodation and services.
What this means for readers
For travellers
High-arrival cities usually offer more flights, hotels and services, but also stronger peak-season crowding. Booking timing, neighbourhood choice and shoulder-season planning matter more in the top tier.
For hotels and investors
Arrivals show depth of demand, but investment decisions need more than volume. Average daily rate, occupancy, seasonality, regulation and visitor spending determine the commercial opportunity.
For city governments
A high position creates tax, job and service-sector opportunities, but also requires transport planning, crowd control, public-space management and a credible housing strategy.
For tourism publishers
City-level demand is not the same as country-level demand. A country may receive many tourists while its city traffic is spread across several regions, resorts or border corridors.
Regional context: global tourism arrivals in 2025
UN Tourism reports 1.52 billion international tourist arrivals globally in 2025. Europe remained the largest destination region at 793 million arrivals, while Asia and the Pacific continued recovering and expanding. These regional totals provide useful context, but they are not the same dataset as the city-arrivals ranking.
- Europe 793; Asia and the Pacific 331; Americas 218; Middle East 100; Africa 81.
FAQ
What counts as an international tourist arrival in a city?
It generally means an inbound international trip associated with a destination city. It is not always the same as a unique person, because one person can travel more than once in a year or visit several cities during a single international trip.
Why do Bangkok, Hong Kong, London and Dubai rank so high?
They combine destination appeal with strong transport infrastructure. Direct flights, large airports, visa or entry facilitation, hotel supply, shopping, events and brand recognition all help convert global travel demand into measurable arrivals.
Is the most visited city also the city earning the most tourism money?
Not necessarily. Arrivals measure volume, while receipts depend on stay length, daily spending, hotel prices, visitor mix and exchange rates. A smaller number of high-spending visitors can generate more economic value than a larger number of short, low-spend trips.
Why can city rankings differ from country tourism rankings?
Country rankings count arrivals at the national level, while city rankings allocate demand to specific urban destinations. A country with several strong cities may spread arrivals across multiple places, while a city-state or dominant gateway can concentrate the national tourism flow.
Are transit passengers counted?
Pure airside transit is usually not the same as a tourist visit, but city-level sources can differ in how they treat stopovers, day visitors, border flows and destination attribution. This is one reason city arrivals should be read as a directional demand indicator rather than a perfectly standardised global census.
Why do some famous cities rank lower than expected?
Fame does not automatically translate into the highest arrival volume. Air capacity, visa rules, hotel supply, price levels, seasonality, distance from major source markets and city-boundary definitions can all affect the count.
How reliable are city-level tourist arrival numbers?
They are useful, but less standardised than country-level UN Tourism series. The safest interpretation is to compare broad tiers and city types, then check local tourism boards, airport data, hotel performance and visitor-spending sources for a fuller picture.
Sources
Updated: April 25, 2026.
- Euromonitor International — Top 100 City Destinations Index 2025 press release. Used for the city-arrivals headline layer: Euromonitor’s Top 100 city destinations were reported at about 702 million international arrivals in 2025; Bangkok led with 30.3 million visitors, followed by Hong Kong, London and Macau.
https://www.euromonitor.com/newsroom/press-releases/december-2025/euromonitor-international-unveils-worlds-top-100-city-destinations-for-2025 - Euromonitor International — Top 100 City Destinations Index 2025 overview. Used for methodological context on the broader city-destination index framework, which is distinct from the arrivals-only layer.
https://www.euromonitor.com/top-100-city-destinations-index-2025/report - UN Tourism — International tourist arrivals up 4% in 2025. Used for global tourism context: 1.52 billion international tourist arrivals worldwide in 2025.
https://www.untourism.int/news/international-tourist-arrivals-up-4-in-2025-reflecting-strong-travel-demand-around-the-world - UN Tourism — World Tourism Barometer data page. Used for the definition and macro reporting context of international tourist arrivals as overnight visitors.
https://www.untourism.int/un-tourism-world-tourism-barometer-data - Tourism Authority of Thailand / Royal Thai Government summaries. Used as secondary confirmation that Bangkok topped the 2025 city-arrivals ranking with 30.3 million international arrivals.
https://www.tatnews.org/2025/12/bangkok-tops-euromonitor-global-city-rankings-for-international-arrivals-in-2025/
