Mastercard has released its annual Global Destination Cities Index, which measures the rise and fall of travel to and within 162 cities around the world.

The ranking measures visitor volume and spend to forecast the growth in visits to those cities in 2018.

This year saw Bangkok retain the top spot from last year, which is unlikely to change due to a strong projected growth of 9.6% this year.

Meanwhile, Dubai came out on top in terms of visitor spending — the average visitor spends $537 a day in the Middle Eastern city.

Scroll down to see the 20 most visited cities in 2018,, ranked in ascending order by the projected number of international visitors in 2018.

20. Bali, Indonesia — 8.43 million international visitors.19. Osaka, Japan — 8.78 million international visitors.
21. Barcelona, Spain — 9.06 million international visitors.
22. Hong Kong — 9.11 million international visitors.
23. Milan, Italy — 9.19 million international visitors.
24. Palma de Mallorca, Spain — 9.3 million international visitors.
25. Pattaya, Thailand — 9.56 million international visitors.
26. Makkah, Saudi Arabia — 9.73 million international visitors.
27. Phuket, Thailand — 10.08 million international visitors.
28. Seoul, South Korea — 10.13 million international visitors.
29. Antalya, Turkey — 11.27 million international visitors.

30. Tokyo, Japan — 12.12 million international visitors.

    

31. Istanbul, Turkey — 12.8 million international visitors.
32. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — 13.53 million international visitors.
33. New York City, USA — 13.67 million international visitors.
34. Singapore — 14.47 million international visitors.
35. Dubai, UAE — 16.66 million international visitors.
36. Paris, France — 17.95 million international visitors.
37. London, UK — 20.42 million international visitors.
38. Bangkok, Thailand — 21.98 million international visitors.

Credit: Business insider