MasterCard index: Lagos is Africa’s 4th most visited city

ITRealms:

 

The Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, Lagos, has emerged the fourth most visited destination city on the continent of Africa, reports ITRealms.

According to the 2014 MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index made available to ITRealms showed that an estimated 1.3 million international overnight visitors are expected to visit Lagos this year, up 5.8 percent from the 1.25 million international visitors who visited the city in 2013.

ITRealms gathered that Lagos ranks ahead of Casablanca (989,219), Durban (890,178), Accra (842,414) and Nairobi (619,506) among others in terms of forecasted international overnight visitors.

International visitors to Lagos, ITRealms learnt are expected to spend US$710 million in 2014, up 3.8 percent from last year’s US$684 million. The city ranks fifth in Africa in terms of overall visitor expenditure below Johannesburg (US$3.20 billion), Cape Town (US$2.25 billion), Cairo (US$804 million) and Casablanca (US$737 million).

“The impacts of travel are very significant from a business, social, and cultural perspective. International visitor spending constitutes an increasingly important source of business revenue in leading cities around the world, encompassing the hospitality, retail, transport, sports and culture industries, among many others, and Lagos welcomes its growth,” says Omokehinde Ojomuyide, Vice President and Area Business Head, MasterCard in West Africa.

Now in its fourth year, the MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities ranks 132 cities in terms of the number of their total international visitor arrivals and the cross-border spending by these same visitors in the destination cities. It also gives visitor and passenger growth forecasts for 2014. The 13 African cities ranked in the Index are Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Cairo, Casablanca, Accra, Nairobi, Beira, Dakar, Kampala, Lagos, Maputo and Tunis.

As the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria continues to attract international investment from companies in diverse sectors. Lagos, which is the most populous city in Africa, is listed as the second most attractive destination on the continent for retail sector investors, according to the 2014 Africa Retail Development Index.

“Nigeria’s recent GDP rebasing reveals that the country is the largest economy in Africa, and the 26^th largest in the world, with a GDP of $510 billion. The increase in international visitors signals income generation for Lagos, and is becoming a major economic growth engine,” adds Ojomuyide

South African cities Johannesburg and Cape Town come in at first and second place as the most popular destination cities by international overnight visitors, attracting 4.2 million and 1.6 million visitors in 2014. Cairo in Egypt (1.35 million) and Casablanca in Morocco (982,219 million) occupy third and fifth place on the index in terms of international visitor numbers.

 
+Remmy Nweke @ITRealms #Lagos is fourth most visited African city #MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index  #GDCI2014

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