Beijing is among the world's most popular tourist cities
16.09.2025

A report released at the 2025 World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development ranked Beijing among the world's leading cities in terms of comprehensive tourism strength.

This year's edition of the World Tourism Cities Development Report (2024-2025), one of the World Tourism Cities Federation's most important publications and published annually since 2014, released on Thursday, ranked Beijing seventh globally in the comprehensively evaluated ranking. This marks a one-place jump from the previous report.

Shanghai ranked ninth and Hong Kong eleventh, while New York, Tokyo, and Paris took the top three spots. The report ranked five Chinese cities—Macau, Hong Kong, Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing—among the top 10 global cities in terms of city intelligence. This highlights the country's progress in smart city development, digital infrastructure, and AI-enabled travel services. Beijing also ranked fifth in the World Tourism Destinations Potential Competitiveness Index Report (2025), published by the World Tourism Cities Federation and the Pacific Asia Travel Association. The report evaluates cities based on ten criteria, including cultural appeal, livability and safety, tourism infrastructure and accessibility, and smart tourism and sustainability. Shanghai ranked ninth.

Wei Xiaodong, Chairman of the Beijing City Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, emphasized Beijing's growing appeal to international visitors. Approximately 2.92 million foreign tourists visited Beijing between January and July 2025, a 46.2 percent increase compared to the same period the previous year.

Peter Semone, President of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, praised Beijing's blend of cultural heritage with modern technology and its leadership in meeting, incentive, conference, and exhibition tourism, emphasizing the city's strategic vision to position it as a global tourism hub.

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