Bangkok still the most visited

● Bangkok was the world’s most-visited city in 2018 for the fourth consecutive year, ahead of Paris and London, according to a ranking compiled by Mastercard.

Thailand’s capital hosted more than 22-million international overnight travellers, Mastercard’s latest global destination cities index shows.

Paris and London followed in second and third place with just over 19-million each. London was the only one of the top 10 cities in the ranking to see a fall in international overnight visitors, registering a decline of almost 4%.

Tokyo is forecast to have the largest growth in arrivals this year, an increase of 10%, to more than 14-million.

Thailand’s tourism industry on some measures accounts for about a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product.

A boom in the sector fizzled out this year as the Thai currency strengthened and the global economy slowed down. — Bloomberg

Picture: Getty Images More than 22-million people spent a night in Bangkok last year.