Skift Take
The power of the outbound Chinese traveler should not be underestimated.
More than 1.18 billion people traveled internationally last year and several Asia-Pacific cities collectively claim nearly 25 percent of those arrivals.
MasterCard's inaugural Asia-Pacific Destinations Index for 2015 examined international tourist arrivals, hotel room nights, and tourist spending in 167 destinations in 22 countries and Bangkok came out as the clear winner. Last year was the first that Bangkok surpassed 20 million international arrivals and had the most international visitors of any city in Asia-Pacific, according to MasterCard.
And apparently martial law and a military coup in Thailand last year didn't keep tourists away as several other Thai cities ranked above larger cities elsewhere in the region. Phuket, Thailand, for example, had 9.3 million international arrivals compared to Hong Kong's 8.3 million and Pattaya, Thaila
