NEW YORK, June 24 — A new ranking of the world’s top tourist destinations for 2014 and 2015 has placed Paris at the top of the heap.

With a 79 per cent approval rating, the City of Light took the top spot in US News & World Report’s annual list of World’s Best Places to Visit 2014-2015, outranking 300 travel hotspots around the globe.

Paris squeaked by archrival London, which was given a 78 per cent approval rating.

The list of top 25 cities and destinations, meanwhile, skews heavily towards North America and Europe, with scant representations from the Caribbean, Latin America and Oceania.

Here are the top 10 lists for world, US, European and Asian travel destinations:

Top 10 best places to visit in the world

1. Paris 2. London 3. Barcelona 4. Maui 5. New York City 6. San Francisco 7. Puerto Rico 8. Sydney 9. Rio de Janeiro 10. Bora Bora

Top 10 places to visit in the US 1. Maui 2. Yellowstone 3. Washington D.C. 4. San Francisco 5. New York City 6. San Diego 7. Yosemite 8. Honolulu-Ohau 9. Orlando - Walt Disney World 10. US Virgin Islands

Top 10 places to visit in Europe

1. Rome 2. Paris 3. Barcelona 4. Berlin 5. Budapest 6. Lisbon 7. Florence 8. London 9. Amsterdam 10. Prague

Top 10 places to visit in Asia 1. Hong Kong 2. Maldives 3. Bali 4. Beijing 5. Tokyo 6. Singapore 7. Seoul 8. Kyoto 9. Bangkok 10. Phuket

— APF-Relaxnews