Tourism a strong suit of local property market
Bangkok welcomed 20.05 million international overnight visitors in 2017, more than any other city in the world, according to the latest Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index.
And it is “unlikely to be bested,” researchers noted — with a strong projected growth of 9.6 percent for visitors in 2018, Bangkok retains its dominance over next contenders to the top spot: London and Paris which drew 19.83 million and 17.44 million visitors, in that order.
Growth for visitors this year to those cities has been forecast at 3 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.
Visitors tend to stay 4.7 nights in the Thai capital where they spend USD173 per day on average, the report by the multinational financial services corporation added.
Tourism has long been a strong engine of the Thai property market. Arrivals from China alone have been up 400 percent over the last five years, “leading to more second home buyers by foreign buyers” in the kingdom, noted a recent report by stock broker UBS Securities Asia Limited.
Although Dubai only ranks fourth most visited city worldwide, it was where visitors spent the most in 2017: a staggering USD537 per day on average.
Singapore ranks fifth, having pulled 13.91 million visitors last year with an average daily spend of USD286, the third highest among the top 10 cities. Nearby Kuala Lumpur attracted 12.58 million visitors, just behind New York City which hosted 13.13 million.
The newest iteration of the Mastercard index was expanded to cover 162 cities worldwide.
The Global Top 10 Destination Cities, Mastercard’s 2018 Global Destination Cities Index:
- Bangkok
- London
- Paris
- Dubai
- Singapore
- New York
- Kuala Lumpur
- Tokyo
- Istanbul
- Seoul
(Article source: PropertyGuru’s Property Report)