The 100 Best Cities in the World for 2023 RANKED: Paris is (again) at number 1, followed by Dubai, with New York in eighth place, London in tenth and Cairo in 99th place

Paris has once again been named the best city destination in the world, according to a survey.

It is the third year in a row that the French capital has taken first place Euromonitor International’s Top 100 city destinations ranking.

It is produced by comparing 55 metrics across six ‘key pillars’: economic and business performance; tourism performance; tourist infrastructure; tourism policy and attractiveness; health and safety and sustainability.

The report places Dubai second, Madrid third and Tokyo fourth – with the Japanese capital entering the top ten for the first time thanks to improved developments in tourism infrastructure. Amsterdam rounds out the top five.

Meanwhile, London, the highest-ranked British city, drops four places to 10th. That’s two places behind New York, which has risen two places, but well ahead of the next British entry: Edinburgh, which is in 62nd place.

The rest of the top ten consists of Berlin (sixth), Rome (seventh) and Barcelona (ninth).

European destinations will feature prominently in 2023, with no fewer than 12 cities in the top 20 and 63 in the top 100.

In contrast, Los Angeles, aside from New York, is the only other U.S. city in the top 20, ranking 19th.

Down Under, Sydney fares much better than last year, with an impressive rise of ten places from number 32 to number 22, while Melbourne also climbed ten places, from number 34 to number 24.

Sandwiched between the two Australian cities in the rankings is Istanbul (23rd).

Newcomers to this year’s list include Washington DC (48th), Montreal (68th), Santiago in Chile (88th) and Vilnius, Lithuania (92nd).

London is the highest-scoring British city, well ahead of Edinburgh, which ranks 62nd

New York rose two places to eighth. It is the highest ranked US city

Dubai ranks second on 55 metrics for ‘key pillars’ such as sustainability and attractiveness, and tourism infrastructure

At the very bottom of the rankings is Oman’s capital, Muscat, with Cairo just above in 99th place.

Nadejda Popova, senior manager (Loyalty) at Euromonitor International, said: ‘Paris has retained the title of the world’s leading city after exceptional performances across all ‘pillars’.’

Looking at travel and tourism for the coming years, she said: ‘The rising cost of living, leading to lower consumer confidence, and fluctuating inflation are expected to be the biggest challenges to industry growth in 2024 and 2025, especially as the global recession reveals.

‘Consumers are expected to look for value-for-money travel deals when booking trips and will continue to prefer authentic and local experiences alongside sustainable tourism alternatives.’

The report shows that international travel continues to recover strongly in 2023, with growth of 38 percent in terms of the number of trips expected to reach £1.3 billion by the end of the year.

Spanish capital Madrid ranks third in a year when global tourism spending is expected to reach $1.7 trillion (£1.3 trillion)

The Japanese capital Tokyo is in the top ten for the first time thanks to improved developments in its tourist infrastructure

The Egyptian capital Cairo ranks a modest 99th, just above Muscat in Oman, at the very bottom of the table.

Global tourism spending is expected to reach $1.7 trillion (£1.3 trillion) by 2023.

This is evident from the report, drawn up in collaboration with a data company LighthouseIstanbul is the most popular foreign destination worldwide, with 20.2 million international arrivals – an increase of 26 percent compared to 2022.

Next comes London, with 18.8 million arrivals, followed by Dubai (16.8 million).

A key milestone for the industry’s recovery in 2023, according to the study, will be the return of Chinese international travel following the lifting of the government quarantine.