Spoiler: Europe confidently wins the tourism game

Every year, the British research company Euromonitor publishes a list of 100 attractive cities in the world that were the most popular among tourists.

When compiling the rating, six criteria are taken into account: tourism policy, sustainable development, economic performance, infrastructure, health and safety.

In the pre-Covid era, when the leading destinations in terms of the number of international arrivals were also taken into account, the top of the list was predominantly occupied by Asian countries. For comparison, in 2018 and 2019, the top 10 were Hong Kong, Bangkok, Macau, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

At the end of 2022, 40 European cities entered the top 100 at once, in particular 6 cities in Italy, 5 in Spain and 4 in Greece.

Let's not keep the intrigue for long. For the second year in a row, Paris has topped the top 100 best tourist destinations in the world.

The report characterizes the French capital as "the world's top performing destination" due to its "exceptional performance in tourism policy and attractiveness, tourism infrastructure and tourism performance."

The top 10 cities in the world in 2022 look like this:

1. Paris (France)

2. Dubai (UAE)

3. Amsterdam (Netherlands)

4. Madrid (Spain)

5. Rome (Italy)

6. London (UK)

7. Munich (Germany)

8. Berlin (Germany)

9. Barcelona (Spain)

10. New York (USA)

8 out of 10 positions are occupied by cities in Europe, which is primarily due to the availability of travel within Europe, the easing of coronavirus restrictions and the restoration of international travel. At the same time, 2 cities in Spain and Germany got into the top 10 at once.

We recently talked about the rules for tourist entry to Germany here.

Tourists also fell in love with Turkey. More information about the rules for entering Turkey here.

Dubai came in second on the list, but took the lead in terms of actual international arrivals. More than 12 million inbound trips were made to Dubai this year, nearly double the number of last year. This was helped in no small part by the postponed Expo 2020 Dubai, which ran from October 2021 to March 2022.

New York ranked 10th, although the report notes that US cities (with 18 US cities in the top overall) saw "strong growth in tourism performance" overall.

Asia is represented in the rankings with 26 cities and has shown mixed results due to Covid-19 related travel restrictions. However, according to Euromonitor, "Asia is a region to watch in 2023 as the return of international travel, both inbound and outbound, is sure to shake up the ratings."

Well, we are watching closely.

Do not forget to take out travel insurance before each trip – a guarantee of your safety and the absence of unforeseen expenses.