South Africa’s most visited city is… not Cape Town

London has kept its status as the most visited city in the world and the city of gold is still the most visited city in South Africa as well as Africa.

According to the 2015 MasterCard Global Destination Cities index, Johannesburg expects to see 4.44 million visitors in 2015. That’s more than double the amount of Cape Town, the second most visited city on the continent.

Cape Town expects to see 1.96 million visitors in 2015. However, international visitors in Cape Town spend more on average ($1,070) than visitors in Johannesburg ($585).

Visitors to Cape Town will spend $2.1 billion in 2015, while visitors to Johannesburg will spend $2.6 billion.

The top feeder cities for Johannesburg are London and Frankfurt, followed by Harare, Maputo, and Windhoek.

Driven by insights into travel patterns and global growth from 2009 to 2015, the Global Destinations Cities Index ranks the 132 most visited cities around the world.

London expects 18.82 million international visitors in 2015, just slightly ahead of Bangkok, the second most visited city in the world, with 18.24 million.

The top ten most visited destinations in the world are:

1. London – 18.82 million visitors
2. Bangkok – 18.24 million visitors
3. Paris – 16.06 million visitors
4. Dubai – 14.26 million visitors
5. Istanbul – 12.56 million visitors
6. New York – 12.27 million visitors
7. Singapore – 11.88 million visitors
8. Kuala Lumpur – 11.12 million visitors
9. Seoul – 10.35 million visitors
10. Hong Kong – 8.66 million visitors

The top ten most visited destinations in Africa and the Middle East are:

1. Dubai, 14. 29 million visitors
2. Johannesburg 4.44 million visitors
3. Riyadh 4.27 million visitors
4. Abu Dhabi 2.70 million visitors
5. Cape Town 1.96 million visitors
6. Cairo 1.70 million visitors
7. Amman 1.31 million visitors
8. Beirut 1.15 million visitors
9. Tel Aviv 1.05 million visitors
10. Casablanca 0.97 million visitors

Photo by Instagram.com/bombafire