Dubai and Makkah top global tourism big spenders list with $50bn in receipts

Tourists visiting Dubai and Makkah spend more on average than any other destination according to annual rankings released by Mastercard.

Dubai topped the list, with $30.82 billion spent last year and Makkah was in second place with $20.09 billion.

Dubai visitors had an average spend of $553 according to the study of 200 cities which is based on publicly available visitor volume and spend data.

“Each year, more people are traveling internationally and spending more in cities,” said Diana Munoz Robino, senior vice president of global tourism partnerships at Mastercard. “Between all of the destinations within the index, arrivals have grown on average 6.5 percent year-on-year since 2009.”

Bangkok remains the world’s most visited city with more than 22 million international overnight visitors followed by Paris in second place, nudging London into third position.

Singapore and Kuala Lumpur were fourth and fifth in the rankings, followed by New York, Istanbul, Tokyo and Antalya in Turkey.

Despite Bangkok and Dubai topping the visitor and spending lists respectively, both cities face headwinds as arrivals come under pressure and hotel room rates weaken.

Hotels in Dubai also had their lowest second quarter occupancy rate in a decade according to recently released figures from STR.

Occupancy in the emirate fell by 0.9 percent to 67.1 percent in the second quarter, its lowest since 2009. Average daily rates and revenue per available room were also at their lowest since 2003.

Tourism chiefs in the emirate are expecting an increase in arrivals next year when the city hosts Expo 2020.

Thailand expects to welcome 2 million Indian tourists in 2019, the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Yuthasak Supasorn, told Reuters, adding this was one year earlier than its target.