Tourism has been one of the rare bright spots for Thailand, which has grappled with weak consumer confidence and exports.

Bangkok won the “World’s Best City Award 2013” organised by Travel and Leisure magazine for the fourth consecutive year.

The Mastercard Index provides more than a ranking of the 132 most visited cities around the world. It projects visitor volume and spend estimates for the 2016 calendar year, while delivering a deeper understanding of how people travel and spend around the world. As cross-border travel and spending continue to grow at a faster pace than the world GDP, the world’s cities continue to be engines of broader economic growth.

Forecasted international overnight visitors to the rest of the top 10 cities include:

London – 19.88 million visitors

Paris – 18.03 million visitors

Dubai – 15.27 million visitors

New York – 12.75 million visitors

Singapore – 12.11 million visitors

Kuala Lumpur – 12.02 million visitors

Istanbul – 11.95 million visitors

Tokyo – 11.70 million visitors

Seoul – 10.20 million visitors

The biggest surprise in this year’s Index is Dubai’s jump to the top rank based on international visitor spending of US$31.3 billion, far exceeding the second ranked London estimated at US$19.8 billion.

“The way people travel and spend across borders indicates just how interconnected and important the world’s cities are,” said Ann Cairns, president of International Markets, Mastercard. “As the planning and experience of the trip become increasingly important, Mastercard is bringing all these pieces together seamlessly through innovation and connections.”

The difference between the global top 10 and the fastest growing top 10 destination cities suggests that Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa have become increasingly important to the global economic landscape. Many cities measured on the Index have increasing growth trajectories, indicating the growing interest in both visiting and living in cities.

Osaka has shown the strongest growth in international visitors (24.15 percent) over the last seven years.

Other cities that made the forecasted top 10 fastest growing cities include:

Chengdu – 20.14 percent

Abu Dhabi – 19.81 percent

Colombo – 19.57 percent

Tokyo – 18.48 percent

Riyadh – 16.45 percent

Taipei – 14.53 percent

Xi’an – 14.20 percent

Tehran – 12.98 percent

Xiamen – 12.93 percent