Eugenia Karmalito
Staff correspondent, EcoTourism Expert 
According to the annual tradition, by the end of every outgoing year, the analytical company Euromonitor International compiled a Top 100 City Destinations rating using data on visitor arrivals for less than 12 months, as well as the previous year’s figures.
According to its global market research, in 2019, global inbound arrivals are expected to make about 1.5 bn trips, which is 4.2% higher than in 2018. At the same time, the top-100 cities will account for nearly 47% of the global arrivals.
According to Rabia Yasmeen, senior analyst at Euromonitor International, “amid the current situation in Hong Kong, leading to a sharp decline in the number of visitor arrivals this year at 8.7%, the city is expected to maintain its leading position in 2019” and will receive 26.7 mn people. In her opinion, Hong Kong tops the list because of its “proximity to China, a vibrant trading scene and a strong cultural heritage.” Thus, over 50% of all visitors to Hong Kong come from mainland China, also due to the completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai- Macau bridge construction as well as commissioning of the high-speed railway connecting Hong Kong with Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
In addition to Hong Kong, in the next three lines of the top 10 leaders, there are also the Asian metropolitan cities - Bangkok (25.8 mn, +6.9% to 2018), Macau (20.6 mn, +9%) and Singapore (19, 7 mn, +6.5%), respectively. But London, which ranked third in 2018, now closes the top five list (19.5 mn, +1.7%); according to experts, it went two lines down primarily due to the Brexit uncertainty.
As for the remaining top 10 lines, there goes Paris (19 mn, +8.7%), followed by Dubai (16.3 mn, +2.6%), Kuala Lumpur (14 mn, +4.8%), Delhi (15.2 mn, +20%) and Istanbul (14.7 mn, +9.6%) that went three lines up this year displacing New York from the top 10 (14 mn, +3%) city destinations.
As for New York, which now lies in the 11th place, experts say that the ‘Big Apple’ that has dropped out of the top 10 for the first time over the recent years but still remains the most popular city in the United States, “requires massive improvements in its infrastructure and an increase in the number of affordable accomodation." In addition, they expect “further reduction in arrivals in New York from the Heavenly Empire as the trade tension between the US and China increases.” Also, the increased competitiveness of the Asian and European destinations has strongly affected all the US tourist cities, with most of them experiencing a downgrade, despite the increase in the number of arrivals.
Two Russian cities entered the Top 100 City Destinations for travelers in the world: Moscow is expected to receive about 6 mn guests (+8.3%) in 2019, retaining the 45th place in the ranking, and St. Petersburg will go 3 lines up, to the 59th place, due to more active growth in the tourist flow (4.45 mn, +11.5%).
In the Middle East and Africa, Euromonitor records a "steady growth when compared to the rest of the world, with Cairo and Hurghada showing a sharp recovery in the ranking, owing to an active tourism reform strategy." Hurghada managed to make the greatest rise in the ranking - by as many as 19 lines! - having moved from 82nd to 63rd place due to a record increase in the tourist flow (3.86 mn, +41%).
“As tourism becomes a cornerstone for economic growth and receives more committed attention from governments, cities are expected to be the centre of innovation and investment with technology and sustainability as key focus areas in the years to come,” concludes Yasmeen.
