Nairobi ranked top destination in Africa

The 2012 MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index has ranked Nairobi fourth among thirteen popular destination cities in Africa. Nairobi is also ranked in 10^th position globally among the fastest growing destination cities worldwide.

According to the index released on Wednesday, 1.8 million visitors are expected to visit the capital in 2012, injecting about $1.5 billion (Ksh126 billion) into the country’s economy. This translates into a 10 per cent growth in visitor numbers and a 16.7 per cent growth in visitors spending over the 2011 index results.

Egypt’ Cairo was ranked first in Africa with a projected 3.3 million visitors expected, while South Africa’s Johannesburg followed with 2.5 million visitors, and Casablanca in Morocco third with 2.1 million visitors.

The other destination cities in Africa that were surveyed include; Dakar, Accra, Cape Town, Lagos, Kampala, Maputo, Tunis, Durban and Beira.

The Index ranks 132 global cities by their total international visitor arrivals and the cross border spending by these visitors in the destination cities. It also gives visitor and passenger growth forecasts for 2012.  

Three cities that will immensely contribute to the 16% growth will originate from London (203,000), Amsterdam (149,000), and Johannesburg (138,000).