Top 100 City Destinations in 2022

Eight of the top ten cities in Euromonitor International’s annual “Top 100 City Destinations Index 2022” are from Europe.

Paris continues to be the most appealing city destination in the world, followed by Dubai and Amsterdam.

The report compares 57 metrics for 100 city destinations across six key pillars to generate an overall city attractiveness score. (1) economic and business performance; (2) tourism performance; (3) tourism infrastructure; (4) tourism policy and attractiveness; (5) health and safety; and (6) sustainability are the six key pillars.

Madrid came in fourth, with Rome rounding out the top five. The good standing of European destinations in the Index is largely attributable to two important pillars: tourism policy and attractiveness, and tourism infrastructure.

The top 10 cities in our global index for 2022 are:

  1. Paris
  2. Dubai
  3. Amsterdam
  4. Madrid
  5. Rome
  6. London
  7. Munich
  8. Berlin
  9. Barcelona
  10. New York

As pandemic restrictions ease, tourism is recovering from the COVID blues.

The strong rebound of international tourism, which is expected to register 112% growth in terms of inbound spending in 2022, was a key factor in global cities’ resilient recovery. Intra-regional travel, the relaxation of COVID-19 travel restrictions, and value-driven tourism all contributed to their increased popularity.

Nadejda Popova, Senior Project Manager – Services & Payments at Euromonitor, said: “The strong rebound of international tourism, following the removal of COVID-19 travel restrictions, the increased interest in value-driven tourism offerings, and consumer preferences for domestic travel and short-haul flights, marked dynamic movements in the ranking in 2022. This allowed the most proactive cities to improve their rank in the Health and Safety, Tourism Performance, and Tourism Policy, and Attractiveness pillars.

“Paris has retained the title of the world’s leading city following exceptional performance across the Tourism Policy and Attractiveness, Tourism Infrastructure and Tourism Performance pillars, and was once again crowned the world’s best-performing destination.”

With rising labor shortages, inflationary pressures, and growing economic uncertainty, the travel and tourism industry is facing new challenges. This is increasing the pressure on urban environments and cities to improve efficiency, mitigate the impacts of climate change, support smart urban development, boost green credentials, and enhance the tourism offer in a post-pandemic period.

 

 

 

 

 

Source : ftnnews

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Hungary is Expecting a Record Number of Visitors From the UAE

This year, Hungary is expected to receive a large number of visitors from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. According to a recent report by Visit Hungary, which is responsible for the development of Hungary’s international tourism, both territories are important markets for Hungary, so the organization is launching a campaign to promote the country’s attractions in these areas, according to SchengenVisaInfo.com.

In relation to the matter, the authorities in Hungary have appointed AVIAREPS as their representative office in the Gulf Countries in order to promote Hungary and bring a large number of tourists to the country.

Vitalij Izbriszov, Regional Head of Business Development at Visit Hungary, stated that Visit Hungary is constantly working to promote the country and show all of the attractions that the Central European country has to offer to international visitors.

“The rapid return and expansion of direct flight access from the region to Hungary, as well as the positive momentum achieved through our many proactive activations carried out during Dubai Expo 2020, have thankfully contributed to this,” Izbriszov said.

According to him, the Middle East has become an important market, and he emphasizes that in order to further engage and develop the market, Visit Hungary will continue to strengthen tourism relations in this region, noting that the collaboration with AVIAREPS is a great opportunity for this.

Glenn Johnston, Vice President of Middle East and Global Public Affairs at AVIAREPS, stated that he is honored and excited to work with Visit Hungary to promote the country’s exceptional cuisine, unique castle stays, and picturesque land and cityscapes.

He emphasized that Budapest has so much to offer Middle Eastern visitors that it will surprise and delight them while also being very affordable.

Due to the spread of the coronavirus and the new restrictions imposed to contain its further spread, Hungary has seen a significant increase in the number of international visitors in the last two years, causing significant damage to the tourism sector, among other things.

However, with the relaxation of the restrictions, the Hungarian tourism industry has seen a significant improvement.

According to data previously provided by the Central Statistics Office (KSH), the number of international tourists and tourist nights spent in Hungary more than doubled in July this year compared to the same period last year.

According to the figures, 493,000 international visitors visited Hungary during the same month, with over 63 percent of tourist nights spent in hotels, which is more than double the figure for July 2021.

 

 

 

Source : schengenvisainfo

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The Future of Tourism in Sri Lanka

The country’s return to a semblance of normalcy has made it appear as though there is some relief for the tourism industry. There are many other Asian destinations that are competing for travelers as Sri Lankan tourism tries to break free and win them back. According to this analysis, Sri Lanka should focus on developing sustainable tourism in order to effectively market the country as a tourist destination.

Sri Lanka tourism today

Due to the ongoing political and economic crisis, arrivals fell to extremely low levels.

But unlike the previous crisis, this new one that has affected tourism is not a security issue. The lack of essentials like food, fuel, gas, medicines, etc. is causing a national economic crisis that is upsetting everything. It was extremely difficult to maintain hotel operations, and the offered goods and services were becoming of lower quality.

Tourists were the only ones inconvenienced by all of this. Security-related issues are nonexistent. Actually, the few tourists present only felt sorry for the people of Sri Lanka, but they still had a good time.

So, with the relative easing of some of the ground issues, such as the availability of fuel and gas supplies, most of the concerns that the visitors had about Sri Lanka are now fast diminishing. Many adverse travel advisories by countries have also been relaxed. Consequently, occupancy rates in most hotels are showing a marked upward trend. Up to July this year, the arrivals have reached almost 459,000, up from 194,495 last year at this time. With strong interest and new bookings filtering in, it is expected that the winter 2022 season will be reasonably good for Sri Lanka, and it is estimated that we will reach about one million visitors by the end of the year.

The impact of COVID on travellers

The long-drawn-out lockdowns and restrictions on travel took a heavy toll on most people around the world. Some of these impacts are:

  • Social isolation
  • Mental distress depression
  • Anxiety through lockdown
  • Changes in feelings and lifestyle
  • Reduced physical activity
  • Unhealthy eating habits
  • Inadequate sleep quality
  • Feeling of loneliness
  • Family lifestyle affected
  • Psychological distress
  • Unstable financial circumstances
  • School closures and suspended educational services

There is a consequent increase in demand for travelers as the travel restrictions loosen. But these protracted times of loneliness and strain have compelled people to think deeply about the environment and the harm we humans have done to the planet. Protecting the environment and the natural world seems to be gaining more attention these days.

As a result, tourists generally appear to be seeking solace from stress while also being more concerned with preserving the environment.

These are the new travel trends following COVID:

  • Adventure travel – outdoors
  • Nature travel – letting nature heal your soul
  • Experiential travel – immersive and participating
  • Authenticity – real thing
  • Customised travel – tailor-made
  • More responsible travel – creating a positive impact on local communities

Sustainable tourism 

Sustainable tourism is defined as “tourism that fully accounts for its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities.” -UNEP and UNWTO.

In a more straightforward manner, tourism is the industry that strives to protect and advance local communities, the environment, and both nature and business interests at once.

It is seen quite clearly that proper sustainable tourism practices will be able to deliver on the needs of future travellers.

Hence, it is quite evident that, in general, destinations that embrace sustainable tourism will be able to meet the needs of the emerging (post-COVID) trends of travellers.

Sri Lanka as a sustainable destination

In this context, it may be worthwhile to take pause and do a quick “audit check” on Sri Lanka’s tourism attributes and sustainability.

Nature and environment Wildlife 

  • One of 34 biodiversity hot spots in the world (ref Conservation.org)
  • 1,340 kilometres of coastline
  • Home to largest animal that ever lived on earth – whales
  • Home to largest land animal in the world – Sri Lankan elephant
  • Home to world’s smallest animal – pigmy shrew
  • Home to ‘Big Four’ of Asia
  • Possibly largest leopard density in the world – Yala National Park
  • Sixth greatest world wildlife attraction – annual gathering of elephants in north-central Sri Lanka (Lonely Planet)

Protected areas

  • One of few primary tropical rainforests in the world – Sinharaja forest
  • Twenty-six national parks

(protected areas)

  • Six world Ramsar-certified wetland sites
  • Four UNESCO man and biosphere reserves culture
  • More than 2,500 years old history
  • Eight UNESCO World Heritage Site
  • Third century Sigiriya rock fortress
  • World famous cultural pageants (Kandy Perahera)
  • Ancient monuments

Community 

  • Many MSMEs involved in activities
  • Approximately 950 homestay units in the country registered with the SLTDA (2021)
  • Estimated that some two million people’s livelihoods are in some way related with tourism.

As a result, Sri Lanka has all the necessary qualities to be positioned as a sustainable tourist destination and may even be among the world’s most unusual locations.

way forward for Sri Lanka’s tourism?

From the aforementioned, it is obvious that travelers of the future will look for vacation destinations that are more environmentally friendly.

The emerging (post-COVID) travel trends of tourists can be catered to by destinations that are more committed to sustainable tourism. It was also discussed how diverse Sri Lanka’s tourism options are, and it is clear that Sri Lanka possesses all the necessary qualities to rank among the top sustainable tourism destinations.

Thus, it is not “rocket science” to understand that we must immediately begin a program to effectively develop, position, and market Sri Lanka as a sustainable tourism destination in order to fully capitalize on the industry’s projected future growth.

 

 

Source : dailymirror

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International Tourism in Asia Pacific is Slowly Recovering

Asia Pacific was expected to be one of the first to recover in 2021, the combination of disparate national responses to COVID-19, long border closures and other restrictions, and the imposition of burdensome travel requirements has resulted in a near halt in international tourism in the region.

China, Japan, and South Korea, the region’s three largest outbound travel markets, have been among the slowest to recover.

At the same time, some main inbound tourism markets in Europe, North America, and Oceania continue to suffer from diminished travel from their historical source markets.

Under its’medium’ scenario, the Pacific Asia Travel Association predicts that foreign visitor arrivals in the Asia Pacific  will only rebound to 25% to 48% of pre-pandemic levels by 2022. Even under the more optimistic’mild’ scenario, full recovery is not expected until 2024.

Despite the bad news, there are some signs of hope for Asia Pacific tourism. Border closures and most travel restrictions have been gradually relaxed through 2022, and most countries have transitioned from containment methods to living with the coronavirus now that it is endemic.

International capacity to/from the Asia Pacific has nearly doubled in the first eight months of 2022, albeit remaining significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels. The region’s airlines handled 9 million overseas passengers in June-2022, more than in the first three months of the year combined.

China Plays Major Role

Despite the good news, the region travel and tourism business is clearly shaped by China. Despite Travel restrictions for both Chinese people and foreign visitors are also being relaxed, China remains one of the world’s most closed locations.

Since June 2022, the country has eliminated the requirement for an antigen test 12 hours before departure and cut quarantine lengths in half: visitors entering the country must isolate for seven days, with an additional three-day medical monitoring period.

New Trend in Asia Pacific Tourism

As the region reopens to foreign travel, it is apparent that the epidemic has altered the way tourism in Asia Pacific will be consumed. With health and safety worries lingering, consumers are displaying a new preference for solo and small group travel, as well as increased need for privacy and a preference for ‘green’ rural/coastal/wilderness travel over urban destinations.

Source : centreforaviation

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Thailand Ranks high in Surveys on Tourism

Thailand has high ranks in surveys on tourism in 2022. The country of smile in the South East Asia region got high ranks in several tourism surveys that include travel safety, workations, Island for tourism and so on. Sky Concierge Network listed below the ranks in 2022 or post pandemic that Thailand got in survey on the tourism by the trusted global organizations.  

Tourism  

  1. No. 1 for workations by William Russell, a renowned global insurance company providing health, life, and income protection, in Koh Pha-ngan, Surat Thani.
  2. Bangkok was voted No. 1 in Asia-Pacific by travelers, according to DestinAsian, a renowned travel magazine. 
  3. According to Survey on Tourism by DestinAsian, Koh Samui and Phuket are the third and fourth finest islands for tourism in Asia-Pacific. 
  4. According to the Visa Global Travel Intentions Study, Thailand is the fourth best tourist destination in the post-Covid period. 
  5. Thailand is ranked eighth in the world for travel safety by Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection, an American travel insurance company. 
  6. Thailand is the 14th most visited country on Google Street View. 
  7. Tom yam kung (spicy shrimp soup): named CNN Travel’s 20th finest soup in the world. 
  8. According to TripAdvisor, an American online travel website, Bangkok is the ninth greatest city for gastronomes. 
  9. Thailand has been ranked the 71st most liveable country in the world by CS Global Partners, a leading government advice and marketing agency.  
  10. Thailand ranks 35th in the 2022 Global Power Index created by Brand Finance, the world’s leading brand valuation consultant. 

Moreover, Thailand also as the 61st happiest country in the UN’s World Happiness Report 2022. So, want to explore Thailand in the most luxurious way? you can ask Skyhigh.vip concierge service team to arrange it for you.

 

Source : nationthailand

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