Two South Korean cities, Seoul and Jeju, were ranked among the world’s 100 most visited cities by foreign travelers in 2014, CNN reported Thursday.
The South Korean capital Seoul ranked 13th in international tourist arrivals by attracting 9.39 million foreign travelers, CNN reported, citing data from Euromonitor, the British global market research agency.
Jeju, the main city on the resort island of Jeju, was ranked 94th.
The number of foreign visitors to Seoul was an 8.9 percent increase from the previous year’s 8.26 million.
According to the survey, Hong Kong topped the list with 27.70 million foreign visitors, followed by London with 17.38 million, Singapore with 17.08 million, Bangkok with 16.24 million and Paris with 14.98 million.
According to the survey, Asia remained the dominant region for city tourism, with over one-third of the top 100 cities being located in Asia in 2014.
Asiawide, Seoul was ranked seventh, following Macao with 14.96 million, Shenzhen with 13.12 million and Kuala Lumpur with 11.63 million.
On its homepage, CNN introduced the top 25 cities around the world, including Seoul, which it said the number of foreign tourists visiting Seoul appeared to have largely increased from 2013 due to the popularity of South Korean rapper Psy’s hit song “Gangnam Style.”
Explaining statistical methods, Euromonitor said Chinese travelers from mainland China were counted as foreign travelers when visiting Hong Kong and Macao, accounting for 67 percent of total foreign visitors. (Yonhap)
