PARIS, Dec 13 — While 2024 is poised to be a great year for tourism in Paris as host of the Olympic Games, the French capital is already a popular choice among international travellers. For the third year running, Paris tops the list of most attractive city destinations, ahead of Dubai, Madrid and Tokyo.

A few weeks ago, the online tour operator eDreams Odigeo reported that Paris was currently the most booked trip for 2024.

Lonely Planet, meanwhile, placed the City of Light second in its ranking of next year’s must-see destinations in the city category (behind Nairobi, Kenya). Similarly, in November, the Opodo platform noted a 55 per cent increase in searches for flights to Paris for the Olympic Games next July/August, with interest coming primarily from travellers in the US, UK, Spain, Canada and Italy. As such, the French capital is already shaping up to be a hot ticket for 2024.

For 2023, Paris tops the list of the world’s 100 most attractive city destinations, compiled by the UK market research firm, Euromonitor International.

This ranking evaluates the overall attractiveness of a city to tourists, taking into account factors such as the infrastructure available to travelers and the policies relating to this sector. The French capital also saw a 4 per cent increase in international arrivals.

At a time when international tourism has well and truly turned the page on the pandemic, with a 38 per cent increase in international travel between January and September 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, the French capital continues to shine as the world’s top tourist destination, despite the growth in international arrivals in Istanbul (+26 per cent), London (+17 per cent), Dubai (+18 per cent), Antalya (+29 per cent), Bangkok (+142 per cent) and Hong Kong (+2495 per cent).

While Dubai takes second place, the ranking above all highlights Europe’s tourist credentials as a must-see destination for many travellers. Just as the Old Continent figures prominently in the list of the most searched-for destinations on Google in 2023 — with Greece in the lead, followed by Spain, Italy, Portugal, Croatia and Cyprus — only Tokyo (Japan) and New York (USA) make it into Euromonitor’s top 10. Overall, in the top 100, Europe takes no less than 63 places.

According to the research firm, the reasons for this performance include Europe’s ability to implement urbanisation plans and to introduce technology where it is needed.

Top 20 most attractive city destinations of 2023:

1. Paris, France

2. Dubai, UAE

3. Madrid, Spain

4. Tokyo, Japan

5. Amsterdam, Netherlands

6. Berlin, Germany

7. Rome, Italy

8. New York, USA

9. Barcelona, Spain

10. London, UK

11. Singapore, Singapore

12. Munich, Germany

13. Milan, Italy

14. Seoul, South Korea

15. Dublin, Ireland

16. Osaka, Japan

17. Hong Kong, Hong Kong

18. Vienna, Austria

19. Los Angeles, USA

20. Lisbon, Portugal — ETX Studio