Bangkok Tops List of World's Tourist Destinations

Bangkok has emerged as the world's top tourist destination, with 15.98 million visitors projected to descend in Thailand's capital city this year, according to the third annual Global Destination Cities Index released by MasterCard on Monday.

据万事达卡(MasterCard)周一发布的年度全球旅游目的地城市指数(Global Destination Cities Index)显示，泰国首都曼谷成为世界第一大旅游目的地，预计今年将迎来1,598万游客。这已是万事达卡连续第三年发布该指数。

Based on data MasterCard collected from governments, central banks, related public agencies and airlines so far this year, the projection for the entire year says Bangkok is surpassing London, the previous holder of the top place, by a very narrow margin.

万事达卡基于今年年初至今从各国政府、央行、相关公共部门和航空公司收集的数据做出了对全年的预测。预测显示，曼谷将以极微弱的优势超过上年的冠军伦敦夺得第一名。

Monday's report marked the first time any Asian city has been projected to be the top-ranked tourist destination. London came in second, with 15.96 million visitors expected in 2013, and Paris, third, with 13.92 million visitors. MasterCard looked at 132 cities.

周一发布的报告是首次预测亚洲城市成为世界第一大旅游目的地。伦敦排在第二，预计2013年游客数量将达1,596万；巴黎排在第三，游客1,392万。万事达卡对132个城市进行了排名。

Other Asian cities that made it to the Top-20 Global Destination Cities in 2013 include Singapore at number four, with 11.75 million visitors; Kuala Lumpur at number eight, with 9.2 million visitors; Hong Kong at number nine, with 8.72 million visitors; Seoul at number 11, with 8.19 million visitors; Shanghai at number 14, with 6.5 million visitors, Tokyo at number 16, with 5.8 million visitors, and Taipei, with 5.19 million visitors.

跻身2013年全球20大旅游城市的其他亚洲城市包括新加坡（第四），游客1,175万；吉隆坡（第八），游客920万；香港（第九），游客872万；首尔（第11），游客819万；上海（第14），游客650万；东京（第16），游客580万；台北，519万。

The study found that Bangkok is experiencing a large increase in its number of tourists in 2013, up 9.8% from 2009. That compares to New York's increase at 5.0% and London's at 3.8%. Paris, meanwhile, saw a small dip in its number of tourists (negative 0.7%).

该研究发现，2013年曼谷的游客数量将大幅增加，较2009年增长9.8%。相比之下，纽约增5.0%，伦敦增3.8%。与此同时，巴黎游客数量小幅下降（减少0.7%）。

Caroline Lledo, who was visiting with her mother from France, said Thailand has many offerings.

与母亲来泰国旅游的法国游客列多(Caroline Lledo)说，泰国有很多吸引人的东西。

'We like culture and the people are so nice. We also love shopping here, ' Ms. Lledo said.

她说，我们喜欢泰国的文化，这里的人非常好，我们也喜欢在这里购物。

MasterCard Worldwide's global economic adviser Yuwa Hedrick-Wong cited overall value for money spent for why Bangkok is attractive. That is true for Thailand overall as well.

万事达卡国际组织(MasterCard Worldwide)全球经济顾问王月魂(Yuwa Hedrick-Wong)说曼谷吸引游客的原因之一是到这里旅游物超所值。在泰国旅游也是如此。

However, in terms of visitor spending, Bangkok is projected to bring in a total of US$14.3 billion dollars and is ranked at fourth this year, while New York continues to be the top city, where visitors will spend around $18.6 billion dollars in 2013.

不过，按游客消费额计算，预计曼谷今年旅游收入将达143亿美元，排在第四。纽约继续保持第一的位置，2013年赴纽约旅游的游客消费总额约达186亿美元。

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) adviser Suwanchai Ritthirak cited official data in saying that each foreign visitor spends an average of 9.6 days and 4, 100 baht (about US$141.50) in the country. Therefore, to boost Bangkok's ranking, more needs to be done to increase either or both factor.

泰国政府旅游局(Tourism Authority of Thailand)顾问Suwanchai Ritthirak援引官方数据说，每位外国游客平均在泰国待9.6天，花费4,100泰铢（约合141.50美元）。因此，为提升曼谷的排名，需要做出更多努力吸引游客待更长时间和/或更多消费。

Asia-Pacific destinations have outperformed cities in the other parts of the globe, said Mr. Hedrick-Wong. Looking at the past five years, he predicted that Asia will likely continue to see a boost in the number of tourists. Not only will more international visitors visit the region, but more Asians will be traveling to cities beyond their own countries.

王月魂说，亚太地区的旅游目的地表现超过了世界其他地方。从过去五年的情况看，他预测亚洲入境游客数量将可能继续攀升。不仅会有更多的国际游客到该地区旅游观光，还会有更多亚洲游客赴亚洲其他国家旅游。