| 1. Paris, France |
14.8 million people travel to France each year seduced by the promise of romance atop the Eiffel Tower, or the chance to see the wry smile of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum. Paris is truly a spectacular city with so much packed into its streets that there is enough to keep you occupied for a lifetime. Stroll along the banks of the River Seine, visit the cathedral of Notre Dame or go shopping on the Champs Élysées.
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| 2. London, United Kingdom |
There is one overriding reason why just over 14 million tourists visit London each year – The British Royal Family. London is home to one of the few monarchies which still operate in Europe. Therefore Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard are eminently fascinating to citizens of other countries which don’t pay to keep their royal families. But London also has huge parks, world class theatre and musicals and amazing shopping in the likes of Harrods and Hamleys. All in all there are enough quirky traits, including its black cabs and red buses, to keep visitors enthralled.
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| 3. Bangkok, Thailand |
Bangkok is a thrilling city which forms a base for travel around the amazing kingdom of Thailand. Every year nearly as many people visit Bangkok as actually live there with 10.2 million annual tourists. Although it may strike you as a hot and polluted metropolis, the city is actually very cosmopolitan and worth exploring, not least for the excellent food you can find. Unfortunately a large proportion of the visitors to Bangkok are drawn there for unsavoury reasons with the Thai capital having a reputation for sex tourism.
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| 4. Singapore |
Nearly 10 million people visit Singapore every year and although a lot of them are business travellers, the city has a reputation for being safe and exciting in equal measure. Singapore has a very busy port and many of the entertaining bars and restaurants are clustered around the main quay. The other main attraction is shopping with extremely low prices on a fantastic array of clothes and electrical goods. But Singapore also has amazing beaches and parks for those who tire of the skyscrapers and malls.
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| 5. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
The Malaysian capital is visited by nearly nine million tourists per year who are drawn to this amazing multi-cultural metropolis. Kuala Lumpur, or KL as it is known in short, has some of the world’s tallest buildings including the KL Towers. The city is also particularly catered to travellers with extremely low prices on excellent five star hotels.
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| 6. New York City, United States |
The Big Apple is probably the most iconic city in the world with its dazzling skyscrapers and luxurious neighbourhoods squeezed onto the island of Manhattan. The city has a formidable reputation for art, fashion, theatre and nightlife but the only things that stop more people visiting are the hassles of getting a tourist visa and the high prices. However if you plan to do some clothes shopping New York is actually one of the most reasonable cities.
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| 7. Dubai, UAE |
Conscious that their massive oil wealth will one day run out, the United Arab Emirates set about building hundreds of tourist attractions to create an addition stream of revenue. That includes the tallest and most opulent hotels in the world such as the Burj al Arab, which is the only seven star facility on the planet. There is also a huge indoor skiing centre, which would not be that impressive had it not been built in a desert. Annually seven and a half million visitors are greeted with customary Arab hospitality.
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| 8. Istanbul, Turkey |
Despite having nearly 20 million inhabitants which makes it one of the most populated cities on earth, Istanbul is not the capital of Turkey. It is however the main tourist attraction outside of the many beach resorts that line the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts. Visitors come in their millions to see massive mosques and impressive architecture on this bustling metropolis which is made more alluring by its position on either side of the Bosphorus Straits.
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| 9. Hong Kong, China |
Hong Kong is prized as a bastion of western culture in the Far East. Having previously belonged to Britain before being handed over to the Chinese, Hong Kong is truly a multi-cultural city and nowhere is this better reflected that in the array of exciting food that the city offers. Hong Kong also has spectacular skyscrapers around its port which makes it a popular destination for cruise ships.
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| 10. Shanghai, China |
Foreign visitors to Shanghai now exceed six and a half million per year. The country has benefitted from its international exposure by holding the last Olympic Games and the 2010 World Exp. Tourism is also flourishing in conjunction with the city’s pre-eminent role in business.
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