GLOBAL market research company Euromonitor International recently released its annual Top City Destinations Ranking at the World Tourism Market in London. Shenzhen ranked in ninth place with 12.6 million visitors and the number is expected to reach 12.96 million in 2017, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

According to the report, the number of visitors was specifically defined as international visitors who stayed for more than 24 hours and less than a year. Hong Kong ranked first with 26.6 million visitors, followed by Bangkok, London, Singapore, Macao, Dubai, Paris, New York, Shenzhen and Kuala Lumpur.

“Cities are at the forefront of all of the innovations in the world, including tourism. We have observed for years that Asian cities are performing well in the rankings, driven by China’s growing demand for outbound tourism,” said Wouter Geerts, the research firm’s senior travel analyst.

He added that new technologies such as face recognition and big data are breaking the traditional boundaries of the tourism industry. The application of artificial intelligence and emotion recognition software in the tourism industry is popular, which is not only cool, but also enhances the convenience of the travel experience, especially in booking services.

The report also envisions the impact of urban development on global tourism by 2025 and analyzes the attractiveness of different types of city destinations. When analyzing Asian cities, the impact of cashless e-payment represented by Chinese cities is mentioned.

For instance, Shenzhen, as China’s city of innovation and city of design, will soon be the representative of smart tourism. When analyzing the competitiveness of cities in Europe and the United States, it is noted that some American cities are more attractive than the crowded European cities, especially in attracting talent and investment.

According to the report, the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong is expected to reach 25.7 million in 2017, down 3.2 percent compared with 2016, but is estimated to resume growth next year. By 2025, the number of visitors to Hong Kong will increase to 44 million. Currently, 41 Asian cities have made it onto the list, and the number is expected to increase to 47 by 2025.

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英国当地时间11月7日，全球市场调研公司欧睿国际（Euromonitor International）在伦敦世界旅游交易会（WTM）上发布了2017年全球百大（旅游）目的地城市排行榜报告（Top 100 City Destinations Ranking 2017 Edition），根据该报告，香港以2660万访客量排名第一，深圳以1260万访客量位于第九，而2017年游客数预计将达到1296万。

根据报告，榜单中的访客数量有特别的界定，指的是停留时间超过24小时且不超过一年的国际访客。全球十大境外游客到访城市依次为：香港、曼谷、伦敦、新加坡、澳门、迪拜、巴黎、纽约、深圳和吉隆坡。据悉，欧睿国际在发布国际市场报告、商业参考书以及消费者市场在线数据库方面拥有40多年的经验。这是欧睿国际连续第12年发布全球旅游市场报告，近几年来，报告中增加了全球旅游目的地城市排行榜，这对于未来世界旅游产业发展具有重要的参考意义。

欧睿国际旅游行业高级分析师沃特•吉尔特11月8日就今年公布的结果及未来全球旅游业趋势接受采访时表示， “城市处于世界所有创新的最前沿，包括旅游业。我们连续几年观察到受中国不断增长的出境旅游需求带动，亚洲城市在此次排名中表现优异。此外，人脸识别、大数据等新技术正在打破传统旅游业的界限，人工智能、情感识别软件在旅游产业链中的应用正在普及，这不仅仅是炫酷，更是增强旅行体验的便利，尤其是在预订服务方面。”

报告展望了到2025年城市发展对于全球旅游业所带来的趋势性影响并分析了不同类型旅游目的地城市的吸引力，例如在分析亚洲城市时就提到了以中国城市为代表的无现金电子支付方式对智慧旅游带来的影响，例如中国高科技之都、创新之都和设计之都深圳将是未来智慧旅游的代表城市，在分析欧洲和美国城市的旅游竞争力时就提到一些美国城市作为旅游目的地的“初创企业”比一些拥挤的欧洲城市更具吸引力，尤其是吸引更多人才与投资，分析部分城市的旅游吸引力在于其连接者的作用，例如，伦敦因其发达的铁路系统是前往英国旅游者中超过一半数量都必选的城市。

报告称，2017年访问香港游客人数预计将达2570万，较2016年下降3.2%，但预计明年将恢复增长。欧睿国际预计，到2025年，访港游客人数将增至4400万。在今年榜单中，亚洲上榜城市有41个，预计到2025年这一数字将增至47个。