Asia Pacific international visitor surge continues

International visitor arrivals into Asia and the Pacific grew by six per cent in June, the latest month for which comprehensive pan-regional results are available.

South Asia reported a growth performance of five per cent in June compared to last June. Across the sub-region, the Maldives was the leading destination in terms of growth (up by 29 per cent) followed by Sri Lanka (up by 13 per cent) and then India (up by a mere three per cent), the PATA said, adding that even though India’s growth rate was well below the sub-region average, it must be remembered that because of the vastly greater volume of international arrivals received annually, India actually contributed around 37 per cent of the increased volume of additional arrivals into the sub-region during the month.

The figures for June are among the strongest year-on-year growth performances so far this year. Southeast Asia set the pace once again with a solid double-digit gain, but all sub-regions reported good percentage growth performances for the month. Increasing numbers of mainland Chinese visitors played a major role in this exceptional performance in many destinations across the region. However, international arrivals into China continued to decline, the fourth monthly contraction so far this year.

“It is encouraging to see that all the tourism growth forecasts for the Asia Pacific region from not only PATA but also from the UNWTO and the likes of the Boeing Company are saying roughly the same thing in terms of strength and direction of growth,” chief executive of PATA Martin J Craigs, said adding that they were seeing these forecasts come into reality as global and regional economies continue to gain in strength. “In the first six months of 2013, the Asia/Pacific region has seen an increase of almost 7.7 million additional international arrivals on the back of a growth rate for the period of 4.5 per cent year-on-year.