Thirteen African, cities including Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Maputo and Nairobi, have been ranked among the world’s most-visited cities in the latest MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index.

“This is the second instalment of this MasterCard Index, which is used as a barometer for understanding the global economy and the dynamic flow of commerce across the world,” said Dries Zietsman, Country Manager, MasterCard Worldwide, South Africa. “The index ranks 132 global cities by their total international visitor arrivals and the cross-border spending by visitors in the destination cities. It also forecasts visitor and passenger growth for 2012,” he said.

According to the index, Johannesburg will be the second most visited destination city in Africa, with a projected 2.5 million international visitors expected in 2012.

International visitors are projected to spend more while visiting Johannesburg than any other destination city on the continent, with US$3.3 billion estimated to be injected into the city during 2012, an increase of 8.1% on 2011’s figures.

The three cities from which most visitors to Johannesburg originate are London (328,000), Frankfurt (196,000) and Dubai (166,500). Combined, these visitors are expected to inject US$975 million into the city’s economy in terms of cross-border spend during 2012.

Ahead of Johannesburg in terms of visitor numbers, and taking the top position in Africa, is Cairo with 3.3 million visitors expected in 2012, while Casablanca, with an anticipated 2.1 million visitors, is third.

The index revealed that Durban will be the fastest growing city in Africa for both visitor numbers and expenditure, and is predicted to be the second-fastest growing city of all the 132 cities surveyed worldwide, with a projected 33.3% growth in the number of international visitors and 41.3% growth in visitor expenditure in 2012 – albeit off a low base.

“The Durban International Convention Centre provides the largest flat-floor, column-free exhibition and conferencing space in Africa, attracting many international exhibitors to the city while playing host to some of the largest and most complex conferences and business events in the world over the past 15 years,” said Zietsman.

The majority of international visitors to Cape Town are from London, with 185,000 visitors expected to spend US$361 million throughout the year. This is followed by 127,500 travellers from Dubai spending US$118 million, and 76,000 visitors from Amsterdam spending US$68 million.

“Cape Town is popular with many travellers because of the wide-range of experiences it offers visitors,” said Zietsman.

According to Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, global economic advisor for MasterCard Worldwide and author of the report: “This kind of growth pattern strongly suggests that destination cities in emerging markets in Africa will also continue to grow in importance in the global economy. In spite of the ups and downs of the business cycle, the overall pattern is clear: cross-border travel by air is a resilient trend that is embraced by a growing number of people across Africa, underpinned by visitors’ robust willingness and capacity to spend.”