This chapter looks at the challenges faced by world tourism cities, destinations that attract large number of visitors due to their specific characteristics. These cities perform multiple functions, such as centres for business, as well as cultural excellence, and are home to many world-class tourist attractions. They are also important players in the world economy, and offer easy access through better connectivity. These traits, together with others that will be discussed later in the chapter, contribute to the important role played by world tourism cities in the global visitor economy. In addition, these cities play an important role in the visitor economy of a destination, with the success of the tourism industry in a country often reliant on their success. However, despite their advantages, world cities face numerous challenges that result from the complex economic, social and political functions they exhibit, as well as the diversity of people they attract (e.g. residents, immigrants or visitors).
In a very competitive world, where many new as well as traditional destinations try to attract ever more visitors, policy makers in cities need to better understand the challenges they face so they can implement specific measures when planning and managing tourism in these destinations. Without such measures, world tourism cities could face numerous negative impacts that may affect their sustainability and competitiveness on the global market, such as increased traffic congestion, pollution and conflicts between visitors and hosts, to name but a few. This section therefore looks at a number of world tourism cities (e.g. London, Singapore, and Dubai) and briefly highlights their particularities together with the challenges they face
