Sydney, Melbourne: Top Ten Tourism Travel Ranking

From the News Wednesday in Australia, they have this headline: "Melbourne and Sydney among top global destinations for big spending tourists" with these highlights: "Melbourne is becoming one of the top cities in the world for attracting big spending international tourists - but it still has a way to go before catching up to Sydney. Tourists are forecast to spend nearly $6 billion in the Victorian capital this year, compared with more than $10 billion in Sydney. Billionaire businessman James Packer has been behind a big push to bring high-spending Asian tourists to Melbourne's Crown Casino, and has similar plans for Sydney. Bangkok attracted the most big-spending tourists in the Asia-Pacific region followed by Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul, according to the annual Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index. Sydney was ranked fifth and Melbourne squeezed in to tenth position. Last year Sydney was ranked third with around $11 billion spent while Melbourne didn't make the top ten. Bangkok was also ranked first overall this year with $16 billion predicted to be spent by tourists, followed by London, Paris, Singapore and New York. MasterCard Australia Country Manager Andrew Cartwright said the inclusion of Sydney and Melbourne's appearance in the list for the first time shows Australia holds a strong appeal for international visitors. 'We know from recent Tourism Australia data that inbound travel is on the rise, with 6.2 million visitors arriving from key markets for year ending March 2013, an increase of 4.9 per cent relative to the previous year,' he said."

For this part of the world, here are the rankings:

ASIA/PACIFIC TOP 10 DESTINATION CITIES BY OVERNIGHT VISITOR SPEND (2013)

1. Bangkok $14.3 billion

2. Singapore $13.5 billion

3. Tokyo $12.7 billion

4. Seoul $10.8 billion

5. Sydney $10.4 billion

6. Taipei $8.1 billion

7. Kuala Lumpur $7.8 billion

8. Shanghai $6.9 billion

9. Hong Kong $6.3 billion

10. Melbourne $5.9 billion

From USA Today Wednesday morning, they have this headline on the overall world rankings with this survey/research: "2013's most visited city? It's not N.Y., London or Paris" with these highlights: "If current travel patterns persist throughout 2013, Bangkok will overtake London as the world's most-visited international city. That's according to the Global Destination Cities Index. The 3-year-old index ranks cities in terms of international visitor arrivals of at least one overnight stay, and by the amount of money those visitors spend in the destination city. While Bangkok beat out London by only a slim margin (15.98 million estimated international arrivals vs. 15.96 million), travel to the Thai capital was up more than 18% in 2011 and 2012 and it's predicted to rise almost 10% this year, the report says. In terms of spending by international visitors, New York retains its top spot with an estimated $18.59 billion, followed by London, Paris, Bangkok, Singapore and Tokyo. For the most part, it's same-old, same-old in terms of where international travelers are headed. Other than Bangkok surpassing London, the top 20 global destinations remain the same. London is No. 2 and Paris remains in the No. 3 spot. Only two U.S. cities made the top 20: New York (at No. 5 with 11.5 million international visitors) and Los Angeles (at No. 20 with 4.8 million). In what the report terms the 'rise of the global south,' 11 of the 12 cities with the greatest increase in air travel connectivity are in Asia and the Middle East. Another top city in terms of the increase in international visitors: Dubai, with an increase of almost 11%."

We are looking forward to our first “down under” visit, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Celebrity Solstice sailing, departing Sydney, going from Australia to Auckland/NZ doing 14 days. Nice to see that the popularity for this part of the world is growing. Interesting to know how all of these places in Asia and South Pacific are moving up in these world rankings.

Full stories at:

http://www.news.com.au/travel/world/melbourne-and-sydney-among-top-global-destinations-for-big-spending-tourists/story-e6frfqai-1226652165366

http://www.usatoday.com/story/dispatches/2013/05/29/most-traveled-cities-index/2366355/

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Celebrity Solstice Visual Highlights? From our June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in France, Italy, Kotor and Dubrovnik, I have pull together a number of wonderful visuals of the Solstice, its features, food, entertainment, options, etc. We are now at 6,236 views for this shorter version of my larger full review of that cruise and all of the port pictures/details. Check these postings and added info at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1803477

Terry, as usual, terrific information.

Keith

Our links with China are massively important to Australia and will generate most of the growth in our inbound tourism. One little problem was discussed when we were up in the Whitsundays a couple of weeks ago; my snorkelling guide said the Chinese are apt to jump into the water enthusiastically but without realizing they are not good swimmers! Then the whole group needs assistance at once.

I am sure this will be dealt with, and we saw so many Chinese tourists in Sydney this week enjoying the VIVID festival (light festival around the harbour)

I am surprised at importance of Bangkok!