A new report reveals that Shanghai, China made the most money from tourism in 2017, raking in $35 billion (around P1.8 trillion) mostly from domestic visitors.
It’s a position analysts at the World Travel and Tourism Council predict the city will maintain until 2027, in their latest City Travel and Tourism Impact Report.
It’s also an impressive rise in the ranks: Shanghai was eighth on the list of travel and tourism-generated gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007. But within a decade, rising domestic travel to the bustling city — the domestic share of travel and tourism GDP in Shanghai is 88 percent — helped the city leapfrog over the competition.
Rounding out the podium are Beijing, China and Paris, France.
For the report, authors looked at the travel and tourism-generated GDP of 72 cities around the world.
Overall, almost half (45 percent) of global international travel is made to cities. That translates to more than half a billion trips a year.
Meanwhile, the cities that attract the biggest international high rollers include Hong Kong, Macau and Dubai, United Arab Emirates where foreign visitor spending is highest.
Here are the 10 tourism markets in terms of travel-related GDP:
1. Shanghai, China: $35 billion
2. Beijing, China: $32.5 billion
3. Paris, France: $28 billion
4. New York, United States: $24.8 billion
5. Orlando, United States: $24.8 billion
6. Tokyo, Japan: $21.7 billion
7. Bangkok, Thailand: $21.3 billion
8. Mexico City, Mexico: $19.7 billion
9. Las Vegas, United States: $19.5 billion
10. Shenzhen, China: $19 billion
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