Romania’s capital Bucharest is first in Europe this year among tourist destinations with highest growth potential, according to Mastercard’s 2018 Global Destination Cities Index.

Tourism in Bucharest is expected to grow by 10.7% this year, according to the index. The Romanian capital is followed by Lisbon, with an expected growth of 10.6% this year, Santa Cruz de la Palma (9.3%) and Moscow (8.8%).

About 1.3 million tourists checked into Bucharest hotel in 2017 and stayed on average 1.6 nights, spending about USD 210 per day, on average, according to Mastercard data.

The top tourist destinations in the world, based on visitor volume and spending in 2017, are Bangkok, London and Paris, followed by Dubai, Singapore and New York. However, Dubai is the city where foreign tourists spent most money in 2017, almost USD 30 billion, followed by Makkah (USD 18.45 bln) and London (USD 17.45 bln).

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 in 2017 and gives international overnight visitor growth forecasts for 2018. This year, the index includes 162 cities.

Foreign tourists spend more money in Romania in first half

editor@romania-insider.com