London rated the world’s leading travel destination

London has retained its position as the leading international travel destination according to the latest MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index.

The UK capital has now been ranked top in the index–which ranks cities both in terms of the number of international overnight visitor arrivals and their spending in destinations–five times in the past seven years.

The MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index predicts that London will host 18.82 million international visitors in 2015, ahead of Bangkok, Paris, Dubai, Istanbul and New York. The index estimates £13.15 billion will be spent in London.

Asian territories did well in the study with Singapore, Kuala Lumpar, Seoul and Hong Kong also featuring in the top ten cities. Furthermore, the region is home to three of the top four fastest-growing destination cities between 2009 and 2015–Colombo, Chengdu and Osaka.

The study also projected that nearly 383 million overnight trips will be made by international visitors in the Index’s 132 cities in 2015 with total spending approximated at US$360 billion.

Ann Cairns, President of International Markets, MasterCard, said: “This year’s study helps us understand just how interconnected the world’s cities are and the significant role they play in connecting and empowering greater numbers of people than ever before.”

She added: “This index is just the beginning. Through a powerful combination of insights, innovation and experiences, MasterCard is partnering to help build the smart cities of the future.”

Other notable findings include Houston being ranked the fastest growing destination city in America by International Overnight Visitors since 2009. Houston is the only destination city in North America with double-digit growth.

The study also identified Istanbul as the most diversified European destination city, with 50 percent of its international overnight visitors coming from 33 feeder cites.

In Latin America, Lima was both the top destination and the fastest growing city in the region, featuring almost 50 percent more international overnight visitors than second-ranked Mexico City.

The report concludes: “International visitors and their spending play an increasingly critical role in boosting economic dynamism in destination cities around the world.

“The global economic recovery remains tentative and uneven and demand for exports continues to be weak. In this context, stronger growth in international visitors and spending can make a significant contribution to income and employment generation for the destination cities.

“The challenge going forward for many of these otherwise very successful destination cities is to diversify their sources of visitors while maintaining their robust rates of growth.”