RTG Consulting Group in association with Hearst China has released its 2016 RTG City Relevance Report showing relevance rankings of of US cities to Chinese outbound tourists on 10 attributes, based on 1000 online surveys completed by middle- and upper-class Chinese travelers, and 50 interviews with upper-class Chinese travelers.
New York City was ranked highest on 6 of 10 attributes:
- Infrastructure & Facilities (86%)
- Food & Beverage (85%)
- Accommodation & Service (85%)
- Culture, Art & Heritage (80%)
- Shopping (74%)
- Attractions and Landmarks (77%)
Maui was ranked highest on Natural Landscapes (92%) and Value for Money (!) (84%).
Washington DC was ranked highest on Safety & Security (90%).
Las Vegas was ranked highest on Entertainment (71%).
Based on aggregate scores across attributes, the top 10 US cities were:
- New York (Overall City Index of 217)
- Maui
- Los Angeles
- Las Vegas
- San Francisco
- Seattle
- Washington DC
- Chicago
- Boston
- Miami (Overall City Index of 40)
I had to wonder: what does Boston need to do better to get higher rankings? Lowest-ranked attributes were Entertainment (big time) and Shopping. And surprisingly, on "Culture, Art & Heritage" where Boston should be a star, it ranked lower than other top-10 cities except Chicago (about a tie) and Maui, Las Vegas and Miami (which thankfully Boston beat out on this attribute).
- David
