May 2015 - Volume 16, Issue 2
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Asia Pacific Foreign Arrivals to Reach 547 Million in 2015

According to the Asia Pacific Visitor Forecast report recently released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Asia Pacific destinations stand to welcome 33 million more foreign arrivals in 2015 as compared with 2014, lifting the expected total inbound volume to around 547 million by the end of the year.

That increase will average out to an annual growth rate of 6%, from a high of around 9% for Southeast Asia to between 3 and 4% for the Americas.

At the destination level, the growth in some inbound volumes will exceed even those averages. According to PATA CEO Mario Hardy, destinations to watch this year include Palau, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea, with individual growth rates expected to be around 20% or higher.

PATA expects 11 of the 38 destinations covered in its forecasts to see increases of more than one million international visitor arrivals during the year, with several at four million or more. Overall, 25 destinations will see their foreign inbound counts rise by more than 100,000 for the year.

Intra-regional travel will continue to dominate in 2015, with more than 80% of the flows from Northeast Asia heading to other destinations within Northeast Asia, with Americas-to-Americas movements at a similar level. Southeast Asia will be marginally lower, with three-quarters of the total flows from that sub-region in 2015 arriving at other destinations within Southeast Asia.

The source markets responsible for generating these increases will be spearheaded by those in Northeast Asia, with China well in front adding an expected 13.5 million additional arrivals for Asia Pacific destinations this year alone.

Asian destinations will absorb most of the additional volume from China, with other Northeast Asian destinations expected to capture around three-quarters of that additional volume and Southeast Asian destinations around 17%.

Southeast Asia will also remain an important generator of international arrivals in Asia Pacific during 2015, with Malaysia and Thailand expected to generate in excess of one million arrivals above the 2014 count. Likewise, the USA will deliver an addition 1.5 million arrivals to Asia Pacific during the year.

The PATA Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2015-2019 are a joint production of the Tourism Forecasting Unit at the SHTM and PATA. The PATA Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts Report 2015-2019 provides an overview of how the tourism landscape in Asia Pacific is expected to develop over the next five years, and is available now. Please contact publications@PATA.org.
This e-newsletter is issued by the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
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