Bangkok edges out London as world's top travel destination

[mcfish]

5 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

Bangkok is a major transit point, arrivals mean nothing.

Read the report! The report is based on at least 1 night stay. Both London and Bangkok at transit points

 

"Bangkok is projected to host 21.47 million "international overnight visitors" this year "

 

Its not a matter of what anyone thinks here its the fact that its a CNN article will give Bangkok a massive tourist boost. Im already booked out for the next 6 months on Air BNB with tourists falling over themselves to make a booking

[chiang mai]

1 minute ago, mcfish said:

Read the report! The report is based on at least 1 night stay. Both London and Bangkok at transit points

 

"Bangkok is projected to host 21.47 million "international overnight visitors" this year "

 

Its not a matter of what anyone thinks here its the fact that its a CNN article will give Bangkok a massive tourist boost. Im already booked out for the next 6 months on Air BNB with tourists falling over themselves to make a booking

 

I DID read the report! Most travellers these days like to take advantage of stopovers or transit points by spending  a few days sightseeing, Australia for example is a long haul in one go. That doesn't imply however that Bangkok was the destination in the first place, it's merely a bonus on a trip to elsewhere.

[mcfish]

6 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

I DID read the report! Most travellers these days like to take advantage of stopovers or transit points by spending  a few days sightseeing, Australia for example is a long haul in one go. That doesn't imply however that Bangkok was the destination in the first place, it's merely a bonus on a trip to elsewhere.

Its not unusual for people to throw in a night or 2 on there way to elsewhere which makes it a destination. This is the way I travel making it like a road trip and If people have zero interest then they will stay at the airport transit lounge. Those that stay at the airport hotel and never leave the room are not tourists but they are not huge in number as a percentage either

Edited September 24, 2016 by mcfish

[williamgeorgeallen]

1 hour ago, mcfish said:

Bangkok is still considered mysterious and exotic and perhaps slightly dangerous by western tourists. People want a different experience from the sterile cities back home , great shopping, restaurants , night life can be as wild as you wanna make it.

 

You need to put your tourist hat on and stop thinking like an expat!

 

The bashers seemed to be very distressed at the no.1 rating LMAO

 

 

 

fair call. first time i visited it it was fun. now i avoid going there if possible. last time i went to deliver some equipment to a customer. normally i would send a taxi but a mate was having a bucks party the same day so i drove up. traffic was crazy on sukhumvit. we went to Pegasus club where we got half price beers as we were with a member, only 400thb each. on to cowboy where drinks were twice what they were in pattay.  that was over a year ago and hopefully it will be my last time.

[neeray]

18 hours ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

bangkok, i dont get it. what is the attraction? am i missing something?

I have to agree with williamgeorgeallen. I don't get it either!

Most cities have a predominate, downtown core area. I am not aware of any such place in Bkk. When I hear people say they are going to Thailand and I ask where and their answer is Bangkok, my heart sinks. 

There is so much more to Thailand. 

[mcfish]

42 minutes ago, neeray said:

I have to agree with williamgeorgeallen. I don't get it either!

Most cities have a predominate, downtown core area. I am not aware of any such place in Bkk. When I hear people say they are going to Thailand and I ask where and their answer is Bangkok, my heart sinks. 

There is so much more to Thailand. 

"There is so much more to Thailand."

Not if you want to see Bangkok there isnt. 

 

Downtown is very predominant between Asoke and Nana with a gazillion shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and bars plus strip shows and soi 11 would be the heart of that downtown area.

[sanukjim]

On 9/22/2016 at 1:44 PM, chrisinth said:

^^^^^ Yep, seems to be right.

 

Of course, it all depend on how much confidence you put into polls and surveys...............................

The top tourist country is France with 79.5 million,#2 US 57.6,#3 Spain 56.7 The UK is #7 29.2 and Thailand is # 14 at 19.1 . As always full of crxp.

[joecoolfrog]

On Saturday, September 24, 2016 at 1:51 AM, mcfish said:

Bangkok is still considered mysterious and exotic and perhaps slightly dangerous by western tourists. People want a different experience from the sterile cities back home , great shopping, restaurants , night life can be as wild as you wanna make it.

 

You need to put your tourist hat on and stop thinking like an expat!

 

The bashers seemed to be very distressed at the no.1 rating LMAO

 

 

 

Your first 2 paragraphs are spot on but the last is somewhat paranoid.

Fact is that the likes of Paris , London , New York dont need to massage ( make up ) numbers in order to prove to the World how great they are.

 

[lvr181]

On 9/22/2016 at 10:54 PM, jaltsc said:

"The Thai capital of Bangkok has beaten London to be crowned the world's most popular travel destination this year ..."

 

Must be because: Whereas London only has Christmas one day a year, Bangkok has it 365 days a year. One can always hear Santa shouting "Ho, Ho, Ho"  24/7 throughout the city.

 

Nah, that was a previous Governor laughing (all the way to the bank?).

[lvr181]

I wonder how 30 million visitors will travel around Bangkok?

 

Some want less cars on the roads. Can public transport handle all these numbers (without crashing or falling over)?

[daveAustin]

Did they do a deal with TAT or are upset that most visitors to London use VISA? 

A nonsense 'projection' that cannot be reliably determined, and from an entity with vested interests... a credit card firm, no less. They're largely basing this on folk coming through Swampy, no doubt, many of which are visa-runners or passing through (major in-transit port city). They are likely counting the entire traffic to Thailand with this data, which is lucky if it's over 20 million. The UK's figures have a bit more substance: around 40 million tourists a year (30 million to London), arrivals in Heathrow alone around 75 million (total arrivals 120-130 million mark). Do the math(s).

 

Don't doubt Bangkok has a big pull, but c'mon, whenever I'm there it is hardly swamped. Aside from London's 5 busy airports, a huge amount come in direct from the Channel (train and ferries). The place is absolutely heaving, always, so much so that I hate visiting.

 

Quote

The biggest surprise in this year's Index is Dubai's jump to the top rank based on international visitor spending of US$31.3 billion, far exceeding the second ranked London estimated at US$19.8 billion

 

Which happens to be suspiciously similar to their projected traffic to London, which is, wait for it, 19.8 million.

 

[daveAustin]

On 9/24/2016 at 7:51 AM, mcfish said:

Bangkok is still considered mysterious and exotic and perhaps slightly dangerous by western tourists. People want a different experience from the sterile cities back home , great shopping, restaurants , night life can be as wild as you wanna make it.

 

You need to put your tourist hat on and stop thinking like an expat!

 

The bashers seemed to be very distressed at the no.1 rating LMAO

 

Would rather be in Bangkok than London any day, but surely one would have to be smoking something or be a little bit green to believe these figures. 

[pegman]

On September 23, 2016 at 8:21 PM, chiang mai said:

 

I DID read the report! Most travellers these days like to take advantage of stopovers or transit points by spending  a few days sightseeing, Australia for example is a long haul in one go. That doesn't imply however that Bangkok was the destination in the first place, it's merely a bonus on a trip to elsewhere.

Give it up for bloody sake. Have you ever conceded a point in your life buddy!

[chiang mai]

28 minutes ago, pegman said:

Give it up for bloody sake. Have you ever conceded a point in your life buddy!

 

Sorry you're having a bad day, I hope it gets better for you. BTW I'm not your buddy!