Bangkok to overtake London as world's most popular city for 2013, says global index

Bangkok is predicted to overtake London as the world's most popular city for 2013, according to a global index.

According to the MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index, the Thai capital will be the most popular destination for tourists this year and is predicted to have 15.98 million visitors in 2013 as compared to last year's most popular destination London on 15.96, News.com.au reports.

The index also mentioned that Paris, once the most popular destination for tourists in the word, is the only destination among the top 20 that has shown a decline in the estimated number of international visitor arrivals by 0.7 per cent.

The cities with the strongest predicted growth are Istanbul and Dubai with 9.5 per cent and 10.9 per cent respectively, while no Australian cities made the list.

The index predicts visitor numbers based on scheduled flights and the estimated spend by tourists for 132 different destinations around the world.

MasterCard has been producing the index since 2010 and it is the first time that an Asia capital has taken out the number one spot, the report added.