When Fame Was Stripped Out, Osaka and Kyoto Topped the Attractiveness List, Pushing New York to Third and Paris to Fifth

New York has been named the world's most attractive city overall in the Global Tourism City Attractiveness Index 2026, a study by Yanolja Research with Purdue University and Seoul's Kyung Hee University. The ranking analyzed social media data in 14 languages, measuring traveler conversation volume and sentiment across 200 cities, weighted on scenery, culture, experiences, and hospitality. Paris took second, followed by Osaka, Kyoto, Seoul, London, Rome, Bangkok, Okinawa, and Chicago.

When fame was stripped out, Osaka and Kyoto topped the attractiveness list, pushing New York to third and Paris to fifth. Japan led with eight cities in the top 50, including Okinawa, Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Yokohama, and Sapporo.