Chinese traditional red lanterns in Beijing. Source: AP
URBAN centres in the Asia Pacific account for all ten of the fastest growing tourism cities globally, shows new data released this week.
A report by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) which covered 65 cities – 21 in the Asia Pacific – found that all those seeing huge growth in tourism numbers, job creation and contribution to city economies were in the region.
“The power of Asian cities when it comes to driving the Travel & Tourism sector is clear to see in this new data,” said the President and CEO of WTTC Gloria Guevara.
SEE ALSO: Australian capital makes top 3 Lonely Planet cities, gets roasted online
A number of cities contributed more than a quarter of their country’s entire travel and tourism economy: Auckland, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul and Sydney.
“Not only do these cities contribute significantly to their country’s tourism sector, tourism is an important generator of economic growth and jobs within the cities themselves,” added Guevara.
Here are the top ten cities (the leading five of which are all in China):
1. Chongqing, China
2. Guangzhou, China
3. Shanghai, China
4. Beijing, China
5. Chengdu, China
6. Manila, Philippines
7. Delhi, India
8. Shenzhen, China
9. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
10. Jakarta, Indonesia
SEE ALSO: What are the most dangerous megacities for women in Asia?
Another success story included Singapore, where the Travel & Tourism has doubled in the past ten years and now supports more than 160,000 jobs.
Tourism in Bangkok represents 10 percent of the city’s economy and 50 percent of Thailand’s entire travel and tourism economy. Indian megacities Delhi and Mumbai, meanwhile, together generate over 1 million tourism jobs – 10 percemt of India’s total tourism employment.
Macau was shown to be the most tourism intensive city in Asia Pacific, with more than a quarter of its economy being made up by tourism revenue.
This article originally appeared on our sister website Travel Wire Asia.
1509086896
{“total”:0,”error”:””,”linkedin”:0,”stumbleupon”:0,”google”:0,”pinterest”:0,”buffer”:0,”facebook_total”:0,”twitter”:0,”vk”:0}
181970
