The Euromonitor International Top 100 City Destinations Index 2024 delivers actionable insights into the performance, appeal and potential of urban markets. It compares 55 different metrics in partnership with Lighthouse across six key pillars for 100 city destinations, to create an overall city attractiveness score. It looks at Economic and Business Performance, Tourism Performance, Tourism Infrastructure, Tourism Policy and Attractiveness, Health and Safety, and Sustainability.
Despite positive recovery projections, challenges like labour shortages, geopolitical tensions and a sluggish economy will persist, limiting city growth. Less-travelled destinations and third-tier cities are expected to rise in popularity as travellers seek hidden gems, off-season experiences and slow tourism. Consumers will prioritise culturally enriching, personalised experiences, making them the new travel currency.
From recovery to growth: The resurgence of travel
Global international arrivals saw a 19% increase in 2024, driven by strong tourism demand. Europe remains the most popular region, reaching 793 million international trips in the year. By 2030, the US, Turkey and China will be the destinations with the highest volume growth of international arrivals. International tourism spending totalled USD1.9 trillion in 2024.
The global average spend per arrival will reach USD1,264 by 2030
Source: Euromonitor International Top 100 City Destinations Index 2024
For the period 2024-2030, inbound average spend per trip is expected to show the highest growth in markets such as the Netherlands, China and Poland. New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo are the cities projected to show the highest consumer expenditure by 2040 in actual terms.
Top 20 city destinations in 2024
Europe leads other regions with nine cities making the top 20 ranking, followed by Asia Pacific with six cities, two in North America, one in Middle East and Africa and two in Australasia
Source: Euromonitor International’s Travel City Index 2024
Paris holds unmatched global dominance in 2024, leading the Tourism Infrastructure pillar, a strength attributed to the wide array of sporting events it hosted throughout the year, including the Summer Olympic Games, and taking an impressive third place in the Tourism Performance and Tourism Policy and Attractiveness pillars. Madrid ranks second overall due to its robust sustainability strategy and commitment to enhancing responsible tourism. With the yen hitting record lows in 2024, Tokyo takes third place, becoming an attractive option for MICE events, offering increased affordability and good infrastructure facilities.
Singapore has dominated the Economic and Business Performance pillar since the introduction of the Top 100 City Destinations Index and is renowned as the world’s freest economy. The city demonstrates improved real GDP growth of 2.7% in 2024, with inflation continuing to slow down to 2.4% as a result of stricter monetary policy.
Intense competition to attract and diversify tourism flows has prompted cities to adopt favourable legislation, with visa regulations becoming a key focus for innovative approaches. In 2024, Bangkok leads the Tourism Policy and Attractiveness pillar, largely due to such initiatives. Thailand continues to enhance its visa-related policies, which have greatly benefited Bangkok. Starting in July 2024, the country offers a 60-day visa exemption for tourists from 93 countries and has increased the number of countries eligible for visa-on-arrival from 19 to 31.
New York, Orlando and Paris take the first three places in the Tourism Performance pillar in 2024, being the only cities achieving a top 30 result in terms of both domestic and international demand. New York plans to focus on longer-staying and higher-spending international travellers, as tourism flows reach pre-pandemic levels in 2024. Bangkok jumps to first place in terms of international arrivals by city with 32 million trips in 2024. The city managed to surpass the pre-pandemic level of international tourism flows in 2023 and continued dynamic growth of over 30% in 2024.
Short-term rentals posts 8% value growth globally in 2024, almost exceeding the USD1 trillion mark. The growth rate will slow down to be in line with overall lodging evolution over the forecast period. The short-term rentals segment is expected to face the highest number of new regulations to combat overtourism and housing shortages. According to Lighthouse, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro remain the leaders in short-term rentals supply in 2024, despite a declining trend. Among the top 20 largest cities by outlet numbers, Paris saw the highest increase, rising by over 20%, followed by Kuala Lumpur and Rome with increases of 3% and 4%, respectively.
Macau takes first position in the Health and Safety pillar in 2024, followed by Helsinki and Dublin. Oslo leads the Sustainability pillar in 2024, with other Nordic capitals such as Stockholm and Helsinki in the top five.
In 2024, global cities have increasingly leveraged sports and cultural events to boost tourism revenues. Infrastructure improvements and year-round marketing have attracted travellers' attention, opening up further growth opportunities. The renewed concern about overtourism is on the rise. To cope with overtourism, destinations continue to impose higher taxation and entry fees, promoting year-round tourism, rewarding sustainable actions and adopting generative AI solutions.
Read our report, Top 100 City Destinations Index, for more analysis on the performance of city destinations.