Seoul likely to be 11th-most visited city

Seoul is expected to become the 11th most visited city in the world by foreign travelers this year, according to a report released last week.

MasterCard’s Global Destination Cities Index indicates that this year’s number of foreign travelers visiting Seoul will be eight million, placing the city at 11th. Seoul is expected to follow Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia with an estimate of 8.1 million foreign visitors.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Bangkok is forecast to be the third most visited place, expecting 12.2 million visitors, Singapore is the fourth, expecting 11.8 million visitors, and Hong Kong the sixth with 11.1 million visitors.

The estimated spending of visitors in Bangkok is expected to be $19.3 billion, becoming the top in Asia- Pacific, followed by Singapore ($12.7 billion), Sydney ($11 billion), Seoul ($10.6 billion) and Taipei ($10.5 billion).

“The estimated number of visitors and their spending in Asian mega cities will be expected to experience double-digit growth, and this trend will continue,” an official from MasterCard was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

(dunhil-mint@hanmail.net)