Paris Announced World’s Most Powerful City Destination by WTTC
A new report by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has named the French capital Paris as the most powerful city destination in the world, also predicting that the spot will be overtaken by Beijing by 2032.
After the opening of borders following the closure that took place amid Coronavirus, most leisure travellers visited cities with less popular coastal and rural destinations. Meanwhile, WTTC’s research shows that city vacations are back and on the rise, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
According to the Council, Paris was selected as the most powerful city destination in the world with a Travel and Tourism sector worth almost USD 36 billion last year.
The WTTC also predicts that over the next ten years, Paris will drop to third place, even though its value will increase to over $49 billion.
Currently, the second largest city destination in the world is Beijing with a Travel and Tourism sector worth about $33 billion. The WTTC predicts that it will surpass Paris within the next ten years, growing to $77 billion.
As the WTTC explains, Orlando’s travel and tourism sector was estimated at $31 billion in 2022, but they suggest it will grow by almost 50 per cent to $45 billion by 2032, meaning it will become the fourth largest city destination.
China has also seen great growth in the national Travel and Tourism sector during the last decade after investing in new hotels, transport infrastructure, and new tourist destinations.
Such investments in the Travel and Tourism sector of Shanghai reached the value of about $30 billion last year, however, it is predicted to double to almost $71 billion by 2032, which means the country will snatch the second position amongst the world’s most powerful city destinations.
The only city on the top ten list that firmly holds its place as the fifth largest city destination is Las Vegas. During 2022, the Travel and Tourism sector in Las Vegas was valued at nearly $23 billion and is projected to grow to over $36 billion by 2032.
“Major cities such as London, Paris, and New York will remain global powerhouses but over the next few years, Beijing, Shanghai, and Macau will be moving up the list of top city destinations. Tourists will always have favourite cities that they will return to, but as other countries prioritise Travel & Tourism, we are going to see new and emerging destinations challenging the traditional favourites,” the press release states.
Moreover, the Polish capital Warsaw is amongst the other cities outside the top ten that show promising growth as developing destinations, since the same has seen a 14.4 per cent increase in its GDP contribution in 2022 compared to 2019.
During the same period, Sanya, the Chinese coastal city, witnessed a growth of 10.2 per cent, with its Travel and Tourism sector representing an incredible 43.6 per cent of the city’s total economy.
The only cities currently ranked in the top ten most powerful city destinations based on sector value are Orlando and Las Vegas. As a result, Travel and Tourism represent 20.4 per cent of Orlando’s economy and 16.3 per cent of Las Vegas’ economy. Compared to the travel and tourism sector in Paris it represents only 3.5 per cent of the capital’s economy in 2022.
