New Delhi: In terms of traveling, six Indian cities including Chennai and Kolkata have found place in the list of the top 100 travel destinations throughout the world.

According to MasterCard Global Destination City Index 2017 list, at-least six Indian cities Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune have been included in top 100 travel destinations in the world apart from Chennai and Kolkata.

Now if we go through the list, Chennai has been placed at No. 1 position in India’s travel destinations and apart from this, Chennai has been included in the top 10 destinations of Asia Pacific.

According to the index, there is no sign of recession in the field of travel and tourism in Asia Pacific. The number of tourists in this southern city area has increased.

With this travel and tourism in India is on an upswing as six Indian cities make it to the leading 100 destinations globally, according to the Mastercard Global Destinations Cities Index 2017.

The six cities include Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune and Bengaluru. Chennai leads the pack in India, besides standing out among the top 10 destinations in Asia Pacific when it comes to overnight visitor arrivals.

Ranking the world’s 132 top destination cities, the Index analyzes visitor volume and spend for the 2016 calendar year and provides a forecast for annual growth, insights on the fastest growing destination cities, and a deeper understanding of why people travel and how they spend around the world.

Chennai, Kolkata makes it to top 100 travel destinations in world:

As per the Mastercard Global Destinations Cities Index 2017, travel and tourism in Asia Pacific are showing no signs of slowing down, with the region dominating visitor arrivals.

This is further testified with the top 10 cities in Asia Pacific destinations tracking the highest amount of international overnight visitor spending. Bringing in $91.16 billion USD in travel expenditure in 2016, Asia Pacific outpaced Europe ($74.74 billion USD), and North America ($55.02 billion USD).

Eric Schneider, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, Mastercard Advisors, said, “As the fastest growing region for international tourism, Asia Pacific’s travel sector will no doubt continue to serve as a key source of in-market economic growth and development.

The rise of leisure and business travel across the region presents a vital imperative for governments and private stakeholders to invest in smart networks and infrastructures that provide seamless experiences for residents, tourists and business travelers.”

“Cities that do so will realize their potential as true global destinations, and reap the economic benefits of increased visitors and greater spending.”

International overnight visitors to the Top 10 destination cities were up in 2016. According to the Index, Bangkok tracked 19.41 million visitors, while London came in a close second with 19.06 million visitors.

Singapore with 13.11 million visitors inched past New York at 12.7 million visitors into fifth position for the first time in three years, while Seoul with 12.39 million visitors leapfrogged three spots into seventh place.

Home to half of the world’s top ten most visited cities, Asia Pacific’s success as a global travel hub has been supported by strong intra-regional travel. Both Singapore and Seoul tracked significant growths, aided by visitors from neighboring countries, particularly those from China.

In the Index’s seven-year history, China has grown from being passive contributors to the region’s travel sector to the main driver of growth for visitor arrivals into Asia Pacific’s top destinations.

Overall, forecasts for continued growth in 2017 are positive except for New York, with Tokyo expecting the largest boom.