Bangkok has become the world's top tourist destination, with 15.98 million visitors projected to visit Thailand's capital city this year, according to the third annual Global Destination Cities Index released by MasterCard on Monday. Based on data MasterCard collected from governments, central banks, related public agencies and airlines so far this year, the projection for the entire year says Bangkok is surpassing   London, the previous holder of the top place, by a very narrow margin. Monday's report marked the first time an Asian city has been projected to be the top-ranked tourist destination. London came in second, with 15.96 million visitors expected in 2013, and Paris, third, with 13.92 million visitors. MasterCard looked at 132 cities. Other Asian cities that made it to the Top-20 Global Destination Cities in 2013 include Singapore at number four, with 11.75 million visitors; Kuala Lumpur at number eight, with 9.2 million visitors; Hong Kong at number nine, with 8.72 million visitors; Seoul at number 11, with 8.19 million visitors; Shanghai at number 14, with 6.5 million visitors, Tokyo at number 16, with 5.8 million visitors, and Taipei, with 5.19 million visitors. The study found that Bangkok is experiencing a large increase in its number of tourists in 2013, up 9.8% from 2009. That compares to New York's increase at 5.0% and London's at 3.8%. Paris, meanwhile, saw a small dip in its number of tourists (negative 0.7%). Caroline Lledo, who was visiting Bangkok from France, said Thailand has many offerings. "We like culture and the people are so nice. We also love shopping here," Ms. Lledo said. MasterCard Worldwide's global economic adviser Yuwa Hedrick-Wong cited   overall value for money spent for why Bangkok is attractive. That is true for Thailand overall as well. What attracts visitors to Thailand?
People and buildings. Shopping and environment. Culture, people and shopping. Culture and natural scenery.