MasterCard survey projects Czech capital to have increase of some 400,000 visitors compared with last year
Prague is the 22nd most frequently visited city in the world and the ninth most popular destination city in Europe, according to the Global Destination Cities Index for 2014, released by the MasterCard association.
The MasterCard survey analyzes tourism in the individual world cities in terms of foreign visitor numbers and their spending. The top global destination of the index is London for the third time in the past four years.
The study predicts that Prague will be visited by 4.9 million tourists this year, a growth of 1.1 million against 2009 and 400,000 more than last year.
The Czech capital has overtaken Berlin, Madrid and Warsaw, among others, in popularity.
“This year’s ranking confirms that world cities remain important centers of business, culture and economy. We expect tourists will spend up to 3.8 million dollars in total during a one-day stay in Prague,” said Miroslav Lukeš, MasterCard CEO for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The number of foreign tourists and their spending for each of the 132 cities included in the survey are calculated based on data from public sources using special algorithms.
With regard to the ranking of destination cities, the survey pays special attention to eliminating the influence of travellers changing planes in cities such as Singapore, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.
Top destination cities in Europe in 2014:
City Number of tourists in millions
London 18.7
Paris 15.6
Istanbul 11.6
Barcelona 7.3
Amsterdam 7.2
Milan 6.8
Roma 6.7
Vienna 6.1
Prague 4.9
Munich 4.3
Source: MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index 2014
