Three Chinese cities including Chengdu, Xi'an and Taipei are among the top 10 fastest growing destination cities by international visitors, according to a study released Wednesday.
The annual MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index, which was revealed on Wednesday, shows that Colombo, Chengdu, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Xi'an, Taipei, Tokyo, Lima and Ho Chi Minh City are the top 10 fastest growing destination cities between 2009 to 2015.
The study also shows that London is expected to receive 18.82 million international visitors this year, grasping the first position of the world's most popular tourist destination once again among the 132 ranked cities around the world.
"I'm delighted that London has proudly held on to this coveted title, as we celebrate another triumphant and record-breaking year for tourism in the city," said Boris Johnson, Mayor of London.
Thailand's capital Bangkok is ranked second, where about 18.24 million international tourists would visit in 2015.
The rest eight most popular tourist destination cities are Paris, Dubai, Istanbul, New York, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and Hong Kong.
"MasterCard understands the importance of cities around the world both for travelers and those who live there," said Ann Cairns, president of International Markets, MasterCard.
The MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities ranks cities in terms of the number of their total international overnight visitor arrivals and the cross-border spending by these same visitors in the destination cities, and gives visitor and passenger growth forecasts for 2015.
