Only Dubai remains in the top 10 world tourist destinations in 2021, among a host of European countries.
Euromonitor International, a UK-based market analysis company, has just announced the world's top 100 destinations for 2021. The results are based on 54 different indicators across 6 key categories: Economic and business performance ; tourism; tourism infrastructure; tourism policy and attractions; health and safety; Sustainability.
The first 10 honored names are: Paris (France), Dubai (UAE), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Madrid (Spain), Rome (Italy), Berlin (Germany), New York (USA), London (England), Munich (Germany) and Barcelona (Spain).
Dubai is the only Asian representative in the world's top 10 tourist destinations in 2021. Photo:Bold Business
Europe has the most cities in the top 100 (39) and many of the highest ranking destinations. (8/10). Analysts point to the reason that vaccination has brought positive effects, especially in the tourism sector. Besides, many cities in turn recovered in all aspects, the opening policy is also more relaxed.
The absence of Asian "big guys" is still commonly seen such as Tokyo, Bangkok, Seoul, Singapore... surprising many people. "Most surprising is Asia's lack of representation. With the exception of Dubai, Tokyo is the Asian name that ranks highest - 15," said Euromonitor International.
According to SCMP, the reason why Asia's largest cities fall out of the top 10 is due to the epidemic and strict policies in the prevention of Covid-19. Europe also has measures, but is considered to be more lenient. Many major Asian cities this year have mostly closed their borders to control the epidemic, greatly affecting tourism.
Currently, cities in Asia continue to apply more restrictive measures due to the development of the new variant Omicron. Hong Kong has added at least 16 more countries to its "high-risk" list, requiring entry to a 21-day quarantine and continuing to ban tourists. Japan is also closed to visitors... These bans have a negative impact on the performance of the destination, affecting its attractiveness to international visitors. According to predictions, Asia will take at least 4 years to recover as before the epidemic.
