PATA: South Asia and Southeast Asia Leading Asia Pacific’s Tourism Boom

Posted: Wed 3 Aug, 2011

August 3, 2011, Bangkok: Preliminary results released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) today showed that international visitor arrivals into Asia/Pacific destinations¹ grew by 4% year-on-year in May 2011, with the South Asia and Southeast Asia sub-regions recording particularly strong performances for the month.

The first five months of 2011 showed South Asia attracted a 15% increase in visitor arrivals. Southeast Asia came second with 12%. Northeast Asia and the Pacific, on the other hand, only managed 3%. Across the whole of Asia/Pacific the average growth in international visitor arrivals was 5% for the first five months of 2011.

Southeast Asia recorded the largest arrivals gain of 16% during the month of May 2011, boosted by a 66% rebound in arrivals to Thailand, as well as by strong demand growth for Vietnam (+37%), Myanmar (+33%), Cambodia (+12%) and Singapore (+11%).

International arrivals to South Asia also showed strong growth with a collective gain of 12% in May, maintaining the same pace of growth seen in 2010. All reporting destinations in this sub-region enjoyed an increase in foreign arrivals, led by Nepal (+47%), Sri Lanka (+39%), the Maldives (+11%) and India (+7%).   

Growth in arrivals to Northeast Asia, however, was a weak 0.6% for the month, highlighting the impact of sharply lower arrival numbers to Japan (–50%) and the decline in the number of Japanese visitors travelling to neighbouring destinations. In addition to Japan, Chinese Taipei (–7%) and China (–1%) also recorded falling arrivals numbers for the month. Conversely, foreign arrivals growth for Hong Kong SAR (+15%), Macau SAR (+9%) and Korea (ROK) (+2%) remained positive during May 2011.

The Pacific sub-region recorded declines in visitor numbers for the month, albeit at a marginal rate of –0.6%, as Guam (–20%), the Northern Marianas (–13%) and New Caledonia (–10%) all reported significant declines in arrivals. Additionally, arrivals to Samoa were down by 5% while New Zealand registered a marginal 0.4% decline. At the other end of the spectrum, Palau (+30%), the Cook Islands (+17%) and the Marshall Islands (+18%) all posted positive results. Arrivals to Australia were also up for the month, albeit at a modest 3%.

Kris Lim, Director of the Strategic Intelligence Centre, PATA, said: “Intra-regional travel remains the key. The dynamic China and India outbound markets continue to expand at a rapid pace with many Indian and Chinese travellers visiting Southeast Asia.”

As for Japan’s inbound market it appears that the bottom of the trough has been reached and some positive movements are now being seen. The better news is on Japan’s outbound performance where the drop eased to around –2.9% year-on-year for the month of June 2011.

Lim said: “The outlook remains broadly positive in the second half of the year. Coupled with the gradual easing of negative growth seen in Japan, the arrivals growth momentum is expected to continue. We are hopeful of a stronger third quarter boosted by the northern hemisphere summer holiday period.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

¹Asia/Pacific is defined as including the following sub-regions for the purposes of press releases:

Northeast Asia = China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Korea (ROK), Macau SAR and Mongolia
Southeast Asia = Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam
South Asia = Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
The Pacific = Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, Hawaii, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Marianas, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu

Results are preliminary; estimates are used for missing data. All comparative figures are year-on-year unless otherwise stated.

For more market trends and insights, please visit www.pata.org/sub-regional-trends-2011

 

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Issued by:

PATA Communications,
Bangkok, Thailand.
Tel: +66 2 658 2000
E-mail: communications@PATA.org
Online newsroom: www.pata.org/Press
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About PATA

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for profit membership association that acts as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism within the Asia Pacific region. This year, PATA is proud to celebrate 60 dynamic years of developing responsible tourism.

In partnership with private and public sector members, PATA enhances the sustainable growth, value and quality of travel and tourism to-from-and-within, the region. The Association provides leadership and counsel on an individual and collective basis to over 80 government, state and city tourism bodies; nearly 50 international airlines, airports and cruise lines and many hundreds of travel industry companies across the Asia Pacific region and beyond. Thousands of travel professionals belong to 39 active PATA chapters worldwide and participate in a wide range of PATA and industry events. PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre (SIC) offers unrivalled data and insights including Asia Pacific inbound and outbound statistics, analyses and forecasts as well as in-depth reports on strategic tourism markets. For more information, please visit www.PATA.org