Paris isn’t just having a moment—it’s having a streak. For the fifth consecutive year, the French capital has secured the top spot in Euromonitor International’s Top 100 City Destinations Index 2025, reinforcing its status as the world’s most sought-after tourism hub.
With 18 million+ international visitors in 2025, Paris continues to outpace rivals thanks to its blend of iconic culture, world-class infrastructure, and increasingly, its sustainable urban strategies. Paris may be synonymous with timeless appeal, but its current dominance is rooted firmly in modernization and smart city planning.
Euromonitor’s annual index—produced in partnership with data firm Lighthouse—ranks cities on tourism appeal, infrastructure, sustainability, economic resilience, and overall visitor experience. Following Paris are Madrid, Tokyo, Rome, and Milan, all scoring highly across cultural magnetism and long-term competitiveness.
The global picture? Tourism is back—and growing faster than many expected.
Paris: Tradition Meets Tech-Forward Tourism
Paris’ victory lap is notable for more than just visitor numbers. For several years, the city has pushed forward on sustainable transportation, smarter crowd management, major infrastructure upgrades, and climate-conscious tourism programs.
Even with geopolitical uncertainty and economic pressures, the French capital continues to offer what travelers increasingly value: reliability, accessibility, and immersive experiences backed by strong public-sector investment.
That equilibrium between heritage and modernity is proving difficult for competitors to match.
Middle East Momentum: Dubai Leads the Region—Again
In the Middle East, Dubai remains the region’s powerhouse, coming in at #12 globally and dominating MEA rankings. The city continues to attract large volumes of visitors from India, the UK, Saudi Arabia, and Russia—driven by a steady cadence of international events, high airline connectivity, and its signature “affordable luxury” hotel sector.
This year’s index lists eight cities from five countries across the Middle East and Africa, underscoring the region’s rapid rise as a global tourism contender.
Beyond Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha are positioning themselves as regional growth engines, investing heavily in cultural attractions, transit systems, and hospitality infrastructure. A unified GCC tourist visa is set to further boost intra-regional travel, connectivity, and economic synergy—potentially creating one of the most seamless tourism corridors in the world.
Asia Pacific Rebounds—And Then Surges
Asia Pacific delivered one of the biggest stories in the 2025 index. The region saw a 10% jump in international arrivals, outpacing every other part of the world. APAC cities benefited from aggressive visa policy relaxations, ongoing airport expansions, and a year packed with high-profile events.
The visitor leaderboard tells the story:
- Bangkok leads with 30.3 million international arrivals
- Hong Kong, London, and Macau follow closely behind
Bangkok’s accelerating numbers signal a broader trend: travelers are returning to Asia in force, and cities that improved digital infrastructure during the pandemic—contactless services, smart immigration processes, AI-backed crowd flow systems—are now reaping the rewards.
Visa flexibility remains a critical factor in Asia’s resurgence, with countries like Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, and Malaysia seeing significant demand spikes.
Global Tourism Shrugs Off Economic Uncertainty
Despite inflation, geopolitical tension, and cost-of-living concerns, global travel remains remarkably resilient.
Nadejda Popova, Euromonitor’s global head of loyalty, summarizes the phenomenon succinctly:
“International arrivals to the top 100 cities climbed 8% to 702 million… cities have adapted and delivered experiences travellers find irresistible.”
In other words: demand isn’t slowing, and cities embracing innovation are pulling further ahead.
Sustainability and AI: The New Frontiers of City Competitiveness
Two dominant forces shaped the 2025 rankings: environmental responsibility and AI-driven transformation.
Sustainability Goes Mainstream
Cities like Madrid, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, and Seville are gaining recognition for eco-friendly mobility, green public spaces, and carbon-conscious tourism strategies.
The Nordic capitals—Helsinki and Oslo—continue to serve as benchmarks for sustainable urban management, pushing their tourism economies toward lower-impact, community-aligned growth models.
AI Becomes the New Destination Differentiator
AI’s influence is rapidly expanding across the travel lifecycle:
- New York is enhancing visitor management with smart city analytics
- Bangkok is using digital arrival cards and automation to streamline entry
- Abu Dhabi is rolling out AI-powered visitor services and predictive capacity planning
Cities investing in operational intelligence—not just attractions—are climbing the ranks fast.
This signals a broader industry shift: the most competitive cities of the next decade will be the ones that use AI to optimize mobility, hospitality, events, and crowd management at scale.
What This Means for the Future of Urban Tourism
Euromonitor’s 2025 index paints a clear picture of what separates the world’s leading destinations from the pack:
1. Investing in infrastructure—digital and physical—pays off.
Airports, transit systems, digital visas, and AI-enabled operations now shape tourism competitiveness as much as museums and city squares.
2. Sustainability is no longer just branding.
Tourists are rewarding cities that demonstrate environmental stewardship with return visits and longer stays.
3. The Middle East is entering a mature growth phase.
Dubai’s leadership is well-established, but Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Riyadh are chasing aggressively with landmark investments.
4. Asia Pacific’s recovery is now a full-scale resurgence.
With demand rising and infrastructure modernizing, APAC cities are poised for continued dominance.
5. Global tourism is restructuring around adaptability.
Cities that innovated through uncertainty—rather than waiting it out—are now pulling ahead decisively.
The Bottom Line
Paris may continue to capture the world’s imagination, but the deeper story is how global tourism has transformed into a contest of infrastructure, sustainability, and intelligence.
From Dubai’s region-defining acceleration to Bangkok’s visitor surge and the Nordic model of urban responsibility, the world’s top cities are rewriting the formula for tourism success in real time.
The destinations climbing tomorrow’s rankings won’t just be beautiful—they’ll be optimized, resilient, data-driven, and increasingly AI-powered.
