Travel/Tourism
London, Tokyo, New York Remain World’s Most Attractive Cities
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Global Power City Index (GPCI) 2017 report published by the Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies has named London, New York, and Tokyo as the most comprehensively attractive cities in the world.
The Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies is a research institute established by Mori Building, a leading urban developer in Tokyo.
First released in 2008, the annual GPCI report evaluates and ranks 44 major cities according to their “magnetism,” or their overall power to attract creative individuals and enterprises from around the world. Cities are rated on the basis of 70 detailed indicators in six categories: “Economy”, “R&D”, “Cultural Interaction”, “Livability”, “Environment”, and “Accessibility”.
This year, the top three cities – London, New York and Tokyo – all retained their slots, with London maintaining its number one position for the sixth year running.
Tokyo, which claimed the number three position for the first time last year, further improved its scores in the field of “Cultural Interaction”, closing the gap on second-placed New York.
Paris experienced a significant decline in its ranking in the “Livability” category, due largely to the recent terrorist attacks, but the host city of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is expected to rise above the competition in the coming years by further strengthening its “Accessibility” scores and recovering its “Cultural Interaction” ratings.
Overall, European cities scored highly on “Livability” and “Environment”, maintaining their reputations as the world’s most livable cities, while U.S. cities maintained their high scores in the areas of “R&D”, underscoring the attraction of these cities for researchers and innovators.
Seven Asian cities, topped by Beijing, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong, featured in the top 10 in the “Economy” category, followed by Dubai, which featured for the first time in this year’s report and achieved strong ratings for its corporate tax rates, ranking number 11 in that indicator category.
Commenting, Hiroo Ichikawa, Executive Director of The Mori Memorial Foundation, stated that, “In the last 10 years, the report has shown that the power of cities has been changing as a result of changes in the macro environment.
“Our report suggests that a city’s overall power cannot be determined by a single factor, such as economy, but needs to take into account the many factors that define the city.
“Rapid urbanization and globalization pose both challenges and opportunities for cities, so for cities to thrive, they need to accurately assess their specific strengths and weaknesses, as well as their relative positioning against other cities.
“We believe that our GPCI report can help policy makers and global companies achieve smarter planning and decision-making in their efforts to thrive in today’s highly competitive global environment.”
London’s core strengths lay in the category of “Cultural Interaction”, which helped the city keep its No.1 position overall for the tenth consecutive year. London continued to maximize its overall strengths by improved scores in the indicators of GDP Growth Rate and Level of Political, Economic and Business Risk. While there remains some uncertainty surrounding the UK’s exit from the EU, London’s balanced strengths across several categories mean the city has the potential to turn challenges into opportunities, extending its commanding lead and continuing forward as the top-ranked city in which to live and work.
New York, in second place overall, increased its scores in the “Economy” category due to improvements in its Nominal GDP and GDP Growth Rate, but failed to make any significant headway in its overall score, owing to weaker showings this year in the category of “Cultural Interaction”.
Tokyo maintained its number three position and further closed the gap on New York, largely due to improved “Cultural Interaction” indicators, in particular the Number of Visitors from Abroad. Tokyo also further improved its scores in the field of “Accessibility”, due largely to an increase in the number of direct flight connections between Tokyo and overseas cities.
Dubai and Buenos Aires made their first-ever appearances in the GPCI in 2017 with respective overall rankings of 23rd and 40th. Dubai posted strengths in “Cultural Interaction” (9th) and the “Economy” (11th), thanks mainly to strong evaluations in the area of Number of Luxury Hotel Guest Rooms and Corporate Tax Rates.
In other parts of the world, Sydney climbed four spots this year to edge its way into the top 10 for the first time in seven years.
Cities such as Los Angeles (in 11th position overall), Beijing (13th), San Francisco (17th), Amsterdam (7th), Berlin (8th) and Frankfurt (12th) all significantly improved their rankings from last year, as did Vienna (14th), Stockholm (16th), Zurich (18th) and Copenhagen (20th).
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A travel card designed for tourists, business visitors, Diaspora returnees has been launched by Verve in partnership with Providus Bank.
Known as the ProvidusVerve Travel Card, the Naira-based travel card will allow inbound travellers to enjoy a smooth, secure, and convenient payment experience throughout their stay in Nigeria. It was powered by Verve’s secure.
Created to support the surge of tourists, expatriates, business visitors, conference delegates, and returning diaspora expected during the festive Detty December season, the ProvidusVerve Travel Card enables seamless payments for transportation, hotels, dining, shopping, entertainment, and everyday essentials nationwide.
The card also works on select global merchant platforms that accept Verve, including Netflix, Google Play, and other digital services, ensuring travellers enjoy uninterrupted access to familiar services.
The ProvidusVerve Travel Card eliminates the hassle of sourcing naira or converting foreign currency on arrival. It enables instant, secure transactions, reduces reliance on cash, and supports compliance with the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
It also mitigates the risks associated with carrying physical cash such as loss, theft, or fraud, offering a safe, regulation-aligned option for both online and in-person payments.
“The ProvidusVerve Travel Card is a timely solution for inbound travellers seeking reliability, security, and simplicity while navigating Nigeria.
“Together with Providus Bank, we have created a product that eliminates the friction traditionally associated with accessing local payments.
“Whether for tourism, business, or festive activities, this card ensures a smooth financial experience from the moment visitors land,” the Vice President for Issuing and Acquiring Management for Africa at Verve International, Mr Paul Ohakim, stated.
On his part, the Divisional Head for Product Management and Solution Delivery at Interswitch, Mr Ademola Adeniran, described the partnership as a reflection of “Verve’s commitment to designing products that respond to real user needs.”
“The ProvidusVerve Travel Card supports everyday experiences — from booking rides and hotels to shopping, streaming, and dining. It provides inbound travellers with a secure, compliant, digital-first way to experience Nigeria without financial barriers,” he added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, has disclosed that the federal government may recover and sell the assets of Dana Air to refund passengers and travel agents whose funds remain trapped following the suspension of the airline’s operations.
The Minister disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at the Ministry’s fourth quarter stakeholders’ engagement to enhance governance for effective service delivery in aviation.
Speaking at the event themed “leveraging public feedback to drive excellence in aviation services, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will be directed to probe why funds trapped by the airline are yet to be refunded.
He revealed that the authority suspended the operations of the airline as a matter of choice between safety and disaster.
“For Dana, the problem is that it was a choice between safety and disaster. So we didn’t take the commercial thing as priority. The priority was safety, and we all looked at the damning reports that we had met on the table.
“It was a decision of the NCAA to suspend them, but I pushed them to say, look, these are the reports we are seeing on the table about safety record, about lack of standards that put the lives of Nigerians at risk. If they continue flying, I don’t know whether most of us will be here. Many of us would have been victims of one of those flights. God forbid.”
According to him, “I have asked Najomo (NCAA director general) to dig deep to find out how those passengers and agents will be refunded. He has to dig deep on that.
“One solution will also be that if that same individual or those entities are trying to come back to aviation under any guise, whether to go and register a new AOC or use any business within the aviation sector, they have to go and settle their debts first.
“We should look at their assets. There are assets that are still available. Let them sell their assets. Let’s cannibalize their revenue and pay people. Let’s find a way to go after their assets and get money to pay Nigerians who are owed.
“NCAA should do that because they can’t get away with it.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said it has imposed a N5 million penalty on Qatar Airways for consumer protection violations.
The announcement was made on Wednesday by the NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Mr Michael Achimugu, on X, adding that there may be other sanctions depending on how the airline treats other cases.
“Glad to announce that, today, the NCAA has sanctioned @qatarairways to the tune of five million naira being penalty for consumer protection-related infractions. In addition, the letters of investigation (LOI) written to the airline over other cases may lead to further sanctions if not treated satisfactorily,” Mr Achimugu wrote.
The fine followed an incident when a Nigerian passenger was accused by a Qatar Airways cabin crew member of sexual harassment during boarding in Lagos for a flight to the United States via Doha, Qatar.
The allegation was only reported in Doha, where the passenger was arrested, detained for 18 hours, fined, and compelled to sign a document written solely in Arabic.
Qatar Airways allegedly refused to continue his journey, forcing him to purchase another ticket at considerable financial and reputational cost.
The NCAA said it invited Qatar Airways’ country manager to a meeting over the incident, but he failed to attend, sending subordinates instead.
“I understand that some countries do not have advanced aviation consumer protection regulations like Nigeria does. In certain cases, some countries don’t even have any. This creates a situation where airlines operating out of those countries (mostly national carriers) act with disdain towards consumer protection enforcement in Nigeria.
“This is not a situation that we would accept here. It is against the law for ANY Airlines not to respond to the NCAA. It is against the law to provide false information to the NCAA. It is against the law to fail to comply with the provisions of Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023,” Mr Achimugu said in an earlier post.
In September, the NCAA accused Qatar Airways of mistreating Nigerian passengers and failing to comply with consumer protection regulations under Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.
The regulator then threatened stiff penalties against the airline for repeatedly disregarding its directives.
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