Phuket most tourists per square mile in world, says report

“Known for having some of the world’s most picturesque beaches, hanging palm trees and lively atmosphere, Phuket offers something for everyone on all budgets, attracting over 9.2 million tourists each year – and with just over 380,000 people living there, it’s clear to see that tourists keep the holiday destination alive,” said a Columbus Direct release announcing the news.

With 5,090 tourists per square mile, Phuket outpaced in second-placed Palma de Mallorca, which recorded 2,918 visitors per square mile each day, said the report.

Pattaya ranked third with 2,762 visitors per square mile each day, ahead of Paris, France (1,174 visitors per sq mile) and Barcelona (605)..

Bangkok receives the highest number of tourists in the world overall at a whopping 20,050,000 – more than 10 million more than Phuket, the report added.

However, due to its size, the Thai capital receives just 91 tourists per square mile, Columbus Direct noted.

London receives the second-highest number of international visitors in the world (19.83 million) and placed send in the tourist-density rankings with 89 tourists per square mile, the report added.

Stuart Lloyd, Travel Insurance Expert at Columbus Direct said, “It is great to see the popularity of some of the world’s most cultural and historic cities, with millions of tourists travelling across the globe to visit them each year. Tourism is hugely important for all major cities across the globe, particularly for those where there is a high density of international visitors per square mile.

“As for Phuket and Pattaya, it brings these destinations to life and gives them their famous name of being a top holiday location and a place with a lively atmosphere for people to have a good time,” he said.

“London is the second most visited city in the world overall – it is interesting that despite these enormous visiting figures, it holds one of the fewest tourists per square mile. With a variety of sites to see dotted across our capital, tourists have endless opportunities to explore and feel what it’s like to be a true Londoner,” he added.

In conducting its analysis, Columbus Direct used the total number of international visitors from Mastercard’s Global Destination Cities Index and divided that number by 365 to reveal how many visitors there were per day.

The study assumed a one night stay for each visitor.

“We then used wikipedia to find out the city area size of each city and divided the total number of tourists per day by the city size to reveal how many tourists there are per square mile per day,” explained the release.

The report invited readers to view the data here.

See the full research findings here.