World’s Top 100 City Destinations For 2023: Paris, Dubai And Madrid In Top 3; Full List Here

Paris has once again claimed the title for the world’s most attractive city destination, according to an annual report by market research company Euromonitor International.

The Top 100 City Destinations Index 2023 compares 55 metrics across six key pillars for 100 city destinations, to create an overall city attractiveness score.

The six key pillars include:

• Economic and business performance

• Tourism performance

• Tourism infrastructure

• Tourism policy and attractiveness

• Health and safety

• Sustainability

The annual report revealed that this year’s top 10 ranking was dominated by seven European destinations, with Dubai (2), Tokyo (4) and New York (8) the only non-European names in the top 10. 

Paris has retained the title of the world's leading city destination, followed by Dubai in second place and Madrid in third. Tokyo came in fourth, while Amsterdam rounded up the top five.  

Asia saw strong representation in the rest of the top 20 as Singapore (11), Seoul (14), Osaka (16), and Hong Kong (17) all made the list, an official statement said.

1. Paris, France

2. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

3. Madrid, Spain

4. Tokyo, Japan

5. Amsterdam, the Netherlands

6. Berlin, Germany

7. Rome, Italy

8. New York, United States of America

9. Barcelona, Spain

10. London, United Kingdom

11. Singapore, Singapore

12. Munich, Germany

13. Milan, Italy

14. Seoul, South Korea

15. Dublin, Ireland

16. Osaka, Japan

17. Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

18. Vienna, Austria

19. Los Angeles, United States of America

20. Lisbon, Portugal

Tokyo has entered the top 10 for the first time thanks to improved developments in tourism infrastructure, Euromonitor said.

In addition to the easing of COVID-19-related regulations, the continued weakening of the Yen since 2022 has attracted tourists to the city, boosting hotel occupancy, to enjoy consumer experiences at very low prices. 

European destinations command the Index with 12 cities in the top 20 and 63 in the top 100.

The four newcomers to the top 100 list are - Washington DC (48th), Montreal (68th), Santiago (88th) and Vilnius (92nd).

“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," Nadejda Popova, Senior Manager (Loyalty) at Euromonitor International said.

International travel has continued to make a strong recovery in 2023 with 38% growth in terms of number of trips, projected to reach 1.3 billion by the end of the year. 

Istanbul tops the list for the number of International arrivals in 2023 with 26% growth year-on year followed by London in second place (up 17%) and Dubai in third (up 18%). 

Hong Kong (2495%) and Bangkok (142%) saw the biggest year-on-year growth in International arrivals as they were among the last to reopen after the Covid-19 pandemic.

To find out more about this Euromonitor International report, click here.