What’s on your bucket list? Phuket in Thailand? China’s Great Wall? If so, you are not alone. Data collected by airport bus company Hoppa (hoppa.com) has revealed the world’s most popular bucket list destinations for 2019, from cities and countries to attractions and events. It underlines the importance of Thailand, China and Japan in the Asian tourism market, and globally, puts Australia in top spot in virtually every category. Dominating the “Top 10 Asian cities” ranking is Phuket, Thailand , which appears on almost half of all travellers’ bucket lists. The most popular destination in Asia by a significant margin, the Thai island city already gets over nine million visitors each year to its sandy beaches, Phang Nga Bay, and Phi Phi Islands. Behind Phuket in the rankings is Tokyo, followed by Hong Kong, which just edged out Singapore for third place. The survey asked travellers from Europe, North America and Australasia for the contents of their bucket lists, each respondent being allowed to offer multiple answers for each category. As well as being the most popular city in Asia, Phuket earned second place globally, finishing behind only Sydney, Australia in the global rankings. Ditto the “Top 10 Asian countries” data, which saw Thailand comfortably lead Japan, Vietnam and China in Asia, while placing fourth globally behind Australia, USA and Canada. Thailand has seen a 7.5 per cent growth in tourism in the past year and now boasts 35 million arrivals a year, according to its Ministry of Tourism and Sports. Choosing a country and city to visit is one thing, but what about attractions and events that give these destinations a reason for tourists to visit? Globally, Hoppa discovered that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is most likely to appear on traveller’s bucket lists, perhaps due to the rapid rate at which it is shrinking and a subsequent “see it before it’s gone” mentality. The Great Wall of China comes second worldwide, and first in Asia, appearing on over 40 per cent of all bucket lists. More than 10 million visitors visit the Great Wall each year. However, three other attractions are almost as popular on bucket lists, and significantly outstrip other attractions; Japan’s Mount Fuji, Beijing’s Forbidden City , and the Taj Mahal in India . The appearance of Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl Tower lower down the ranking makes it an overall very strong category for China. Such is the status of the Great Wall of China among tourists that it also makes it onto the top 10 list for Asian events. The Great Wall Marathon – held on its Huangya Pass, Tianjin section of east Beijing each May for about 25,000 athletes – grabs the final place in a ranking dominated by four key events; China’s Dragon Boat Festival, Lunar New Year in Singapore (25 January 2020), the Winter Light Festival, in cities across Japan (November and December 2019), and the Lantern Festival, Taiwan (8 February, 2020). The latter’s location changes each year; in 2020, it’s in Taichung, and in 2021, Hsinchu. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism in China reports that the three-day Dragon Boat Festival (also called Duanwu or Tuen Ng Festival) has attracted nearly 90 million tourists. Traditionally held around the summer solstice, it will next be held on 25 June, 2020. However, despite being out in front in Asia, the Dragon Boat Festival was pipped at the post in the global rankings by Brazil’s Carnaval, due to be held next from 21 to 26 February, 2020 when two million people are expected in Rio de Janeiro. Hoppa’s Top 10 bucket list – Asian cities 1 Phuket 2 Tokyo, Japan 3 Hong Kong 4 Singapore 5 Kuala Lumpur 6 Bangkok 7 Delhi 8 Mumbai 9 Shenzhen 10 Macau Hoppa’s Top 10 bucket list – Asian tourist attractions 1 The Great Wall of China, China 2 Mount Fuji, Japan 3 The Forbidden City, China 4 Taj Mahal, India 5 Ha Long Bay, Vietnam 6 Mount Everest, Nepal and Tibet 7 Angkor Wat, Cambodia 8 Komodo Island, Indonesia 9 The Grand Palace, Bangkok 10 Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai