Is there a science behind what makes a city attractive to travellers? According to the latest research, the answer is a resounding yes. A new global ranking has not just looked at where people are travelling to, but which cities are capturing their attention and leaving the strongest emotional impressions.
The Global Tourism City Attractiveness Index for 2026 issued by Yanolja Research, in collaboration with Purdue University and Kyung Hee University, took a deep dive into social media conversations across 14 languages to rank 200 destinations.
Rather than focusing on usual tourism indicators, such as visitor numbers or hotel occupancy, the index measured two pillars: the “cognitive awareness” of destinations, which measured how visible, recognisable and “top of mind” destinations were within global travel discussions, and “affective attractiveness”, which assessed how memorable and enjoyable destinations were, as well as how keen travellers were to recommend them to others.
Researchers also analysed 419 travel-related words and phrases – such as mountain, hotel, street food and art gallery – which either fell into the urban aesthetics and natural scenery category, or culture and history, experiential tourism content or hospitality categories.
“The 2026 index shows that the most competitive tourism cities are no longer simply the most visited or most heavily promoted places,” said Dr. SooCheong (Shawn) Jang, Professor at Purdue University and Director of Yanolja Research. “They are cities that successfully convert global awareness into emotionally meaningful visitor experiences.”
Which cities ranked highest?
The 2026 Global Tourism City Attractiveness Index was divided into three ranking categories: overall, awareness, and attractiveness.
Overall ranking
- 1. New York, USA
- 2. Paris, France
- 3. Osaka, Japan
- 4. Kyoto, Japan
- 5. Seoul, South Korea
- 6. London, UK
- 7. Rome, Italy
- 8. Bangkok, Thailand
- 9. Okinawa, Japan
- 10. Chicago, US
Awareness ranking
- 1. New York, USA
- 2. Paris, France
- 3. London, UK
- 4. Rome, Italy
- 5. Bangkok, Thailand
- 6. Seoul, South Korea
- 7. Washington, DC, USA
- 8. Osaka, Japan
- 9. Los Angeles, USA
- 10. Kyoto Japan
Attractiveness ranking
- 1. Osaka, Japan
- 2. Kyoto, Japan
- 3. New York, USA
- 4. Seoul, South Korea
- 5. Paris, France
- 6. London, UK
- 7. Rome, Italy
- 8. Okinawa, Japan
- 9. Bangkok, Thailand
- 10. Dubai, UAE
American and Asian heavyweights take the lead
New York claimed the highest spot in both the overall and awareness rankings, only moving down a notch in the attractiveness poll – coming in third place.
The study attributed its top overall ranking to its “rare combination” of global visibility and being favourable within visitor sentiment. Other American destinations, including Chicago, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, had a broad appeal, making it to the top 10 of the overall and awareness rankings.
In total, 16 US cities feature in the global top 50. According to researchers, this presence points to a portfolio that has a diverse ecosystem of cultural, business, entertainment, leisure and lifestyle destinations offerings.
Meanwhile, France’s capital Paris ranked highest among the European cities – second in the overall and awareness rankings, and fifth for attractiveness.
“New York’s No.1 ranking demonstrates the power of combining unmatched global recognition with strong experiential appeal,” Dr. Jang said. “At the same time, the rise of Asian destinations such as Osaka, Kyoto, Seoul and Okinawa shows that emotional attractiveness is becoming a decisive source of tourism competitiveness.”
The research highlights Asian destinations being dominant for attractiveness, with 60% of destinations within the attractiveness ranking being in Asia.
According to the researchers, there is a shift in what’s peaking global tourism interest. Gone are the days when iconic landmarks or infrastructure defined a city, now, the destinations that stand out are the ones adept at combining their global awareness with distinctive visitor experiences that are shareable and emotionally satisfying.
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