France boasts world's 'most powerful' tourism city, US, China follow

Dhaka: A new index from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) held Paris – a city beloved for fine food, art and fashion – as the world's most powerful city for tourism.

The nonprofit global travel industry body based in the United Kingdom analysed tourism data from the year 2022 to see where travellers were spending the most money.

The overall list of most powerful tourism cities did not only take museum tickets and hotel rooms into account, but also other factors like how much local and national governments and businesses are investing in these cities as tourist destinations.

The list-topper Paris, for instance, is preparing to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. Although fewer than 5 per cent of the facilities will be newly built for the games, the city is pouring resources into infrastructure, security and other measures that will help them get ready to host the world.

The French capital's overall tourism total came to USD 35.6 billion in 2022.

The United States had three cities on the WTTC list – Orlando, New York City and Las Vegas.

Theme park capital – Orlando, Florida – highest US city on this year's roundup

While each city earns a significant amount from tourism, they serve different kinds of travellers – Orlando is popular with families visiting the city's theme parks, Las Vegas is an internationally known gambling and nightlife hub and New York attracts foodies and art lovers, among others.

Of this group, Orlando was the highest earner, raking in USD 31 billion for 2022.

On the other hand, three Chinese cities – Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou – landed in the top 10 for 2022.

Despite China remaining closed mostly in 2022, its capital Beijing still brought in significant tourism revenue

"Major cities such as London, Paris and New York will remain global powerhouses but over the next few years, Beijing, Shanghai, and Macao will be moving up the list of top city destinations," said Julia Simpson, President and CEO, WTTC.

Of course, there are more than two countries represented in the WTTC list. Tokyo, Mexico City and London placed in seventh, eighth and ninth respectively to round out the rankings.

• T