Ninth most visited city in the world

Dubai ranks 9th in MasterCard Worldwide Index of Global Destination Cities ranking. The survey ranks destination cities in terms of the total number of international visitor arrivals and cross-border spending. It excludes from arrivals the number of returning residents after an overseas trip and transit passengers. MasterCard recently released the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Global Destination Cities, an index that gives a look at how the world's biggest cities are connected. Multifaceted Dubai features prominently on the Index, coming in ninth in terms of numbers of inbound international visitors expected this year, and outshining cities such as New York, Amsterdam, Kuala Lampur and Shanghai. This index gives a look at how the world's biggest cities are connected. Multifaceted Dubai features prominently on the Index, coming in ninth in terms of numbers of inbound international visitors expected this year, and outshining cities such as New York, Amsterdam, Kuala Lampur and Shanghai. The Index 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, and gives visitor and passenger growth forecasts for 2011. With 7.9 million international visitors expected in 2011, Dubai is the ninth most highly ranked destination city in the world. Abu Dhabi is expecting to see an increase of 15.5 percent in international visitors, and the UAE capital is expected to see these visitors fork out a whopping USD 2 billion this year.