Bangkok Remains The World’s Most Visited City — But Popularity Is Bringing Problems

Euromonitor International has again placed Bangkok at the top of its Top 100 City Destinations Index, projecting an estimated 30.3 million international arrivals in 2025. The Asia Pacific region is seeing a strong rebound in travel, with international arrivals up about 10% year-on-year. But officials and local businesses warn that a surge in visitor numbers is creating friction where infrastructure and social norms are already stretched.

Tourism Boom—and Tension

Paris kept its crown as the planet’s most attractive city for the fifth consecutive year. Yet high demand has consequences: the Louvre plans to increase entry fees by 45% for visitors from outside the European Economic Area starting New Year — a sign of how destinations are managing crowds and revenue.

Across Asia Pacific, the tourism surge has highlighted another problem: badly behaved tourists. Local officials, hospitality staff and analysts say rude or reckless visitor behavior is damaging goodwill, straining public services and prompting tougher enforcement or local backlash in some hotspots.

“It’s almost like the genie is out of the bottle,” a travel analyst told CNN. “How do you put it back in?”

Records, Engineering Feats and New Hospitality Benchmarks

Several headline-making infrastructure and hospitality milestones were noted this week:

• Dubai opened the 377-meter Ciel Dubai Marina hotel, a supertall property built on a footprint smaller than a soccer pitch.
• Rosewood Hong Kong was named the world’s best hotel for 2025 by 50 Best; the Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River ranked No. 2.
• Norway is building Rogfast, a 17-mile undersea rail tunnel designed to cut travel time and reduce dependency on ferry routes.
• China opened the Huaijang Grand Canyon Bridge in Guizhou, soaring about 2,051 feet above the river.
• India-administered Kashmir unveiled the 1,180-foot-tall Chenab Bridge, the world’s highest railway bridge and the first rail link connecting Kashmir to the broader Indian network.

Human Stories And Regional Notes

Beyond grand infrastructure, human-interest pieces captured attention: veteran window washer Jang Woo-seok demonstrated the skills required to clean Seoul’s 125-floor Lotte World Tower; an iconic Istanbul building was restored after decades of decay; and a brief profile followed a young man who declared himself the world’s youngest “president” before being deported. Lighter cultural notes included how bananas, despite not being native to Tokyo, have become a quirky city symbol.

In other urban news, Tokyo was recently displaced as the world’s most populous city by a Southeast Asian capital, according to CNN Travel reporting by Lilit Marcus — another signal of shifting urban dynamics in the region.

What This Means

Together these developments sketch a picture of rapid recovery and transformation: rising visitor numbers and ambitious engineering projects are reshaping cities, while destination managers and communities grapple with how to preserve local quality of life and cultural assets amid mounting tourism pressure.

For more news and updates, visit CNN Travel and Euromonitor International’s reports.