Asia and the Pacific eye good Tourism Business

Asia and the Pacific eye good Tourism Business

With seven more months to before the year 2008 comes to an end the Asia-Pacific region eye a grand prospect of tourism business as the infrastructure and superstructure are growing in some major countries like Thailand, Singapore, China and Malaysia. A great concern though has been still the "hot" issues of tsunami, bird flu, terrorist attacks and travel-related taxes and most recently the rise of oil prices and food crisis in international level and the wobbly situation in the Persian Gulf.

Many things indicate that the region will be one of the fastest growing regions in the tourism industry internationally. Firstly, international travelers show intention to travel to Asia. Across all markets more than three-quarters of international travelers would consider Asia as a holiday destination. Outside Asian markets, Germany, Australia and Sweden appear to be the most dynamic markets for the tourist flow in Asia.

As WTO [World Tourism Organization] reports travel and tourism has become the world's largest and fastest expanding industry with growth showing a consistent year on year increase. International arrivals have increased by an average rate of 4.2% per annum between 1990 and 2005; a trend that has led the World Tourism Organization to predict that by 2020 tourist arrivals around the world should reach 1.6 billion.

According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourism arrivals expanded by 6% in 2007, to 898 million international tourist arrivals, as compared to 2006.

"Economic and tourism growth are driven by emerging markets and developing economies. While mature markets remain the leading destinations in the world, the faster growth rate of new markets confirms UNWTO's main message of tourism's potential for the developing world," said UNWTO's Secretary-General, Francesco Frangialli.

Of the additional 52 million worldwide arrivals, Europe received some 19 million and Asia and the Pacific 17 million. The Americas was up by around six million, Africa by three million and the Middle East by five million.

The Middle East totaled 46 million international tourist arrivals and continues to be one of the tourism success stories of the decade so far, despite ongoing tensions and threats. The region is emerging as a strong destination with visitor numbers climbing much faster than the world total, with Saudi Arabia and Egypt among the leading destinations in growth in 2007.

Against the background of a strong growth of above 7% per year since 2000, Asia and the Pacific is also pushing international tourism and attracted 185 million visitors. While Japan (+14%) has taken off as a destination, Malaysia (+20%) Cambodia (+19%), Vietnam (+16%), Indonesia (+15%), India (+13%) and China (+10%) keep improving their growth rates.

The growth forecast is even more spectacular in the case of Asia and the Pacific where international arrivals are expected to leap almost fourfold from 111 million in 2000 to 417 million by 2020. Asia has already overtaken the Americas - in 2002 - to become the second most visited region in the world.

The growth in Asia has been fuelled by rapid economic growth in Asia and the Pacific and by the increasing importance attributed to tourism by national governments. Tourism has become the key industry in several countries in the region in terms of foreign exchange earnings, employment and the generation of income.

The areas that had been affected by the tsunami in December 2004 have managed to surpass the difficulties and saw an increase in visitors' numbers. Other issues in Asia - Pacific region such as terrorist attacks, bird flu, and travel-related taxes are likely to be greater barriers to travel than tsunami. But we have to mention that there is a misconception regarding the areas that were affected by diseases or terrorist attacks as a great amount of people outside Asia don't really know which countries face this problem and in what extend. This fact may affect travel in the region as many of those who intend to travel to Asia are misinformed about the situation especially in Indonesia.

The biggest countries in the Asia such as China and India which have almost one third of the world's population see a significant growth.

The infrastructure basis in China is very strong and will get wonderful business during the Olympic Games in 2008 in Beijing but India keeps pace with strong developments lying ahead.

No doubt, 2008 will be a good year for China. Terrorism is of course a big issue for all the regions in the world not only for Asia. But, there is a risk for terrorist attack in Indonesia especially after the bombings in Bali and things sometimes become so optimistic for the region this year. Moreover, fair and clean Maldives has also fallen in terrorist' attack last year; though the country has almost controlled the situation from further way to be worse.

Maldives is doing fantastic business in tourism what could be really a great example for all nature resourceful small countries in the world. In general terms, things for Asia will be very good in rest of months of 2008 and new investments opportunities will be occurring.

An important issue that indicates the trends in the region is that those indenting to travel in Asia in 2008 are in greater proportion compared to those in 2007. The biggest variation comes from USA (20% to 37%) followed by Japan (from 51% to 62%), Canada (18% to 27%) and Korea (44% to 54%). China is the only country which shows a significant decline (from 62% to 42%).

A new trend that highlights the importance and the significance among generations is that the generation of Baby Boomers is a lucrative market for Asia as approximately 40% of Australians and New Zealanders who are taking an overseas holiday in the region are Baby Boomers and they spend billions of dollars. All data show a good prospect for this market in the region.

The tremendous growth in the region, especially for 2008 has also highlighted a wide range of social, cultural, environmental and economic policy issues that need to be addressed. These can be grouped under two broad headings: firstly devising strategies to meet the projected growth in demand so that tourism continues to produce economic benefits; and secondly, managing tourism effectively to ensure that its growth does not compromise the principles of sustainability.
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