Chennai and Mumbai have emerged among the top 20 destinations in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of visitors spend, the latest findings from the MasterCard Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017 showed.
While Chennai was ranked at 13, Mumbai was at 15, according to the index’s findings.
Bangkok remains the most visited destination in Asia Pacific and Singapore continues to lead the Thai capital in total visitor expenditure.
Mumbai and Chennai rank 15 and 14, respectively, in terms of international overnight arrivals, recording a 10.7 per cent growth in terms of international overnight arrivals between 2015 and 2016.
Also, Mumbai and Chennai rank 13 and 15, respectively, with respect to total nights spent, the Mastercard index findings showed.
The MasterCard Asia Pacific Destinations Index is an offshoot of MasterCard's annual Global Destination Cities Index.
The Asia Pacific Destinations Index takes a more indepth, focussed look at the tourism trends, ranking 171 destinations in terms of the total number of international overnight arrivals, cross-border spending and the total number of nights spent at each destination. These 171 destinations are drawn from 22 countries across Asia Pacific and represent 90 per cent of all international overnight arrivals within the region.
Over the past two years (2015-16), Singapore has tracked a strong 18 per cent leap in visitor spend.
Singapore attracted the highest spending visitors at US$254 per day, followed by Beijing (US $242), Shanghai (US $234), Hong Kong (US $211) and Taipei ( US $208).
According to the index's findings, 2016 was an exciting year for tourism in Asia Pacific. Fuelled by increasing consumer wealth amongst Asia Pacific's emerging markets, the region's thriving tourism industry continues to show progress.
Asia Pacific is the world's fastest growing region for international tourism by GDP contribution, with tourism making up 8.5 per cent of Asia Pacific's GDP and 8.7 per cent of total employment last year.