From the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games to the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral, the City of Light has been firmly in the spotlight in 2024. As the year-end brings its share of tourism rankings and reviews, Paris takes the top spot in Euromonitor International’s list of the world’s top 100 city destinations for 2024.
Each year, the data analytics firm publishes its list of top city destinations, measuring their economic and business performance, tourism infrastructure, attractiveness to tourists, as well as their healthcare system, safety measures, and efforts to improve environmental sustainability.
For the fourth year running, Paris tops the list of the 100 most attractive city destinations worldwide, boosted by 17 million incoming arrivals in 2024. Above and beyond France’s leadership, this study demonstrates just how much Europe is a major tourist destination for travellers from all over the world.
The continent largely dominates the top 10, with Madrid (2nd), Rome (4th), Milan (5th), Amsterdam (7th) and Barcelona (10th) all featured.
According to Euromonitor, tourism infrastructure makes Europe an attractive destination for a variety of travellers, whether it’s the Louvre in Paris, the Prado museum in Madrid, or the Colosseum in Rome. With the region totaling 793 million international trips, the Old Continent continues to appeal amidst the broader recovery of the travel industry.
Indeed, global international arrivals saw a 19% increase in 2024 due to strong demand.
This demand is also benefiting other areas of the world, notably the Asia-Pacific region, which features six cities in the top 20, compared to nine in Europe and two in North America, including New York in 6th.
Two of these rank in the top 10 – Tokyo (3rd) and Singapore (9th). The latter stands out for its economic and business performance, and is renowned for being home to the world’s freest economy, which puts it firmly on the world tourism map.
Bangkok, which has largely turned the page on Covid-19, is a prime example of Asia’s rising power, recording a total of 32 million international arrivals.
China, meanwhile, is considered to be one of the fastest-growing destinations in terms of international arrivals by 2030, alongside the US and Turkey.
The top 10 attractive city destinations in 2024 are:
- Paris
- Madrid
- Tokyo
- Rome
- Milan
- New York
- Amsterdam
- Sydney
- Singapore
- Barcelona