Top 10 Most Visited Cities in the World: 2026 Snapshot (2025 Arrivals)
Most Visited Cities in the World: Bangkok Leads the 2025 Ranking
Bangkok led Euromonitor International's 2025 city-arrivals ranking with 30.3 million trips. Hong Kong followed (23.2M), then London (22.7M). This 2026 snapshot compares 10 cities by international arrival trips in 2025, measured in millions and ranked highest first. Euromonitor published the estimates in December 2025, before year-end.
The table is a compiled research dataset based on 6 source publications, with row-level source and method notes shown in the ranking table. Status counts: 10 preliminary industry estimates (industry_observed_value with a preliminary flag); 0 official, 0 calculated, 0 official forecasts and 0 modeled projections. Checked October 29, 2026.
First in the 2025 industry series.
Lowest within the Top 10, not worldwide.
Ten verified city-level estimates.
Millions; December 2025 Euromonitor release.
What Does “Most Visited City” Measure?
International arrivals count trips associated with a city, not necessarily distinct people. This metric does not rank domestic tourism, hotel nights, airport passenger traffic or tourism revenue. It also differs from Euromonitor's broader city-performance index: Paris ranked first overall in that 2025 index but ninth on the international-arrivals list.
Top 10 Cities by International Arrivals in 2025
The values come from one Euromonitor industry series. Other publications reproduce the ranking rather than independently measure city arrivals.
Top table and full ranking · 2025 preliminary arrivals (million trips)
| Rank | City | Arrivals | Source / method note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bangkok, Thailand | 30.3M | Euromonitor 2025 preliminary estimate; also cited by Thailand's tourism authority. |
| 2 | Hong Kong, China SAR | 23.2M | Euromonitor 2025 preliminary estimate; also listed by Statista and Time Out. |
| 3 | London, United Kingdom | 22.7M | Euromonitor 2025 preliminary estimate; also listed by Statista and Time Out. |
| 4 | Macao, China SAR | 20.4M | Euromonitor 2025 preliminary estimate; also listed by Statista and Time Out. |
| 5 | Istanbul, Türkiye | 19.7M | Euromonitor 2025 preliminary estimate; also listed by Statista and Time Out. |
| 6 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 19.5M | Euromonitor 2025 preliminary estimate; also listed by Statista and Time Out. |
| 7 | Mecca, Saudi Arabia | 18.7M | Euromonitor 2025 preliminary estimate; also listed by Statista and Time Out. |
| 8 | Antalya, Türkiye | 18.6M | Euromonitor 2025 preliminary estimate; also listed by Statista and Time Out. |
| 9 | Paris, France | 18.3M | Euromonitor 2025 preliminary estimate; also listed by Statista and Time Out. |
| 10 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 17.3M | Euromonitor 2025 preliminary estimate; also listed by Statista and Time Out. |
Table note: the compiled research dataset uses 6 source publications and one underlying Euromonitor 2025 arrival series. Each row is an industry-reported preliminary estimate for 2025 (industry_observed_value with a preliminary flag), not a finalized official observation or a StatRanker projection. The table retains the one-decimal-million precision published for these cities; original rank follows the displayed numeric values.
Showing 10 of 10 cities.
Chart: International Arrivals in the Top 10 Cities
Bars use the same arrival figures as the table, scaled against Bangkok's 30.3 million trips.
Bar width = displayed city value ÷ 30.3 × 100%. These percentages represent chart scale, not shares of world tourism.
Methodology: Source, Definitions and Limitations
Metric and unit
International arrival trips at city level, in millions. Ranking direction is descending, based on the published one-decimal-million values. The figures are not counts of unique people.
Year and release
The reporting year is 2025. Euromonitor published its analysis on December 2 and a press release on December 5, 2025. Because both preceded year-end, the city values are treated here as preliminary industry estimates.
Status distinctions
The row label industry_observed_value identifies the underlying industry-data provenance; the separate preliminary marker qualifies its maturity. The figures are not directly published government observations, derived calculations, official government forecasts or StatRanker modeled projections.
Visitor definitions
In its 2017 methodology, Euromonitor defined qualifying international tourists as visitors staying at least 24 hours but no more than 12 months. It counted repeat trips and trips involving visits to several countries during one holiday, while excluding domestic, same-day and transit visitors. The public 2025 releases do not reproduce the full current definitions, so these historical rules are not presumed unchanged.
Sources and conflicting values
Euromonitor is the primary industry source; Time Out, Statista and Thailand's tourism authority restate its numbers. Time Out's prose approximates Hong Kong as 23.3M, whereas its numbered ranking and Statista both report 23.2M. We use the matching published list value, without averaging.
Coverage, rounding and missing rows
Only these ten publicly corroborated city figures are ranked. No values for cities 11–100 are inferred. Published precision is 0.1M. The ranking does not convert airport data, government city reports or country tourism series into estimates.
Top 100 context: Euromonitor separately projected 702 million international trips across its leading 100 cities for 2025. That source-published projection is not a finalized observed total and is not used to calculate values or missing ranks on this page.
Different city boundaries, trip definitions and reporting revisions can affect comparison with local statistics. This metric does not measure domestic travel, tourism receipts, nights spent, airport traffic, spending per visitor or the overall destination-performance score.
What the Ten Values Show
Key insight
Bangkok leads Hong Kong by 7.1 million trips (30.3M minus 23.2M), the largest adjacent-rank gap in this Top 10.
Notable pattern
Ranks five to nine fall between 19.7M and 18.3M, a spread of 1.4M across Istanbul, Dubai, Mecca, Antalya and Paris.
Regional concentration
Bangkok, Hong Kong, Macao and Kuala Lumpur account for four of the ten cities. Türkiye has two entries: Istanbul and Antalya.
Outlier
Bangkok is the only city in the verified list above 25 million international arrivals. The other nine are between 17.3M and 23.2M.
How to Interpret the Ranking
Arrivals show inbound trip volume, not economic value. A city with fewer arrivals can generate more revenue if visitors stay longer or spend more. Likewise, Paris's first-place position in Euromonitor's overall 2025 destination index does not contradict its ninth-place arrivals ranking: the indices answer different questions.
Comparisons are strongest within the same Euromonitor release. National tourism totals, municipal statistics, airport passenger counts and receipts use other geographic units or definitions and should not be substituted into this table.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the most visited city by international arrivals in 2025?
Bangkok led Euromonitor's 2025 city-arrivals ranking with an estimated 30.3 million trips. Hong Kong followed with 23.2 million, and London with 22.7 million.
Are these actual arrivals for 2026?
No. The figures refer to 2025; “2026 snapshot” describes when this version of the ranking is presented. No 2026 city-arrivals estimate appears in the table.
Are these final official statistics?
No. They are estimates issued by Euromonitor, a commercial research provider, before the end of 2025. The technical status identifies the industry origin; the preliminary marker prevents these figures being treated as audited annual observations.
Does 30.3 million arrivals mean 30.3 million different visitors?
Not necessarily. Arrival counts measure trips or visits, and a person may visit more than once. Euromonitor's 2017 methodology counted repeat trips and visits to several countries during one holiday; the complete 2025 rules have not been verified in a public appendix.
Why is Paris ninth if it ranked first overall?
Euromonitor's overall city-destinations index covers multiple performance factors. Paris led that broader 2025 index, whereas this table sorts international arrival volume only.
Why are Hong Kong and Macao separate entries?
They are listed separately as city destinations by Euromonitor. Both are special administrative regions of China, and their figures are retained as separate published entries.
Is the projected 702 million figure the sum of this Top 10?
No. Euromonitor's projection covers its Top 100 city destinations. It is not a finalized annual observation and is not used to estimate the unlisted cities here.
Is this ranking the same as tourism revenue or airport traffic?
No. Tourism receipts measure money received from international visitors; airport counts measure passengers, including transit movements. Both differ from a city-arrivals ranking.
Sources
Euromonitor provides the underlying figures; the other publications reproduce the values or document historical definitions.
Euromonitor International — 2025 Analysis
Primary industry commentary, December 2, 2025. Identifies the city-arrivals leader and describes the separately projected Top 100 total.
https://www.euromonitor.com/article/top-100-city-destinations-index-2025-driving-growth-and-innovationEuromonitor International — 2025 Press Release
Primary publisher announcement, December 5, 2025. Confirms Bangkok's 30.3M value and distinguishes international arrivals from the overall city index.
https://www.euromonitor.com/newsroom/press-releases/december-2025/euromonitor-international-unveils-worlds-top-100-city-destinations-for-2025Time Out — Ten Most Visited Cities
December 5, 2025. Publishes the ten ranked city-level values attributed to Euromonitor.
https://www.timeout.com/news/revealed-the-worlds-most-visited-cities-by-international-arrivals-in-2025-120525Statista — Top Cities for International Visitors
February 27, 2026. Reports the Euromonitor-based Top 10 values, including Hong Kong at 23.2M.
https://www.statista.com/chart/35880/top-cities-for-international-visitors-in-2025/Tourism Authority of Thailand
December 18, 2025. Reports Bangkok at 30.3M, explicitly citing Euromonitor rather than offering a separate calculation.
https://www.tatnews.org/2025/12/bangkok-tops-euromonitor-global-city-rankings-for-international-arrivals-in-2025/Euromonitor — Historical City-Arrivals Definitions
2017 WTM Cities Report, methodology page. Defines international tourist arrivals, repeat trips, visits to several countries, visitor duration and exclusions in an earlier edition. It is not presented as the exact 2025 rulebook.
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