- Japan is the most popular global destination due to its universal appeal and weak currency.
- India is emerging as the largest and fastest growing major market in the world.
- Chinese tourists continue to favor domestic travel over international travel
Asia-Pacific destinations are trending globally, capturing half of the top 10 fastest-growing destinations among travelers, while passenger traffic in the region shows strong signs of rebound, particularly for short-haul travel, and India continues to position itself as a leader. global player.
The fifth Travel trends 2024: breaking boundaries The Mastercard Economics Institute (MEI) report provides insight into the evolving travel industry landscape across 74 markets, including 13 in Asia-Pacific.
Japan has become the world's top trending destination, growing by 0.9%, with 3,081,600 international visitors arriving in March 2024. According to the report, this is the highest level ever recorded and is ahead of the high tourist season.
“It's no surprise that we've seen Japan grow so much in terms of travel. “It's an attractive place to go with lots of special experiences to have and good food to taste, but also a weak yen, which is at its lowest level since 1990 on a bilateral basis against the euro,” he said. said David Mann, chief Asia economist. -Pacific at Mastercard.
The report also reveals that passenger traffic in Asia-Pacific is rebounding, particularly when it comes to intra-regional travel. For example, it reported the top destinations departing from Singapore this summer, including Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Perth.
“Additionally, this year we expect a full recovery in tourist arrivals to Thailand, which are now only a few percentage points below what they were in 2019,” Mann said, adding that the Total visitor arrivals are now just seven percent. hundred below 2019 levels.
However, inbound air traffic from South Asia and the Southeast Asia region is almost 20% above 2019 levels.
Eyeing the Indian market
“India’s travel story will only get bigger in the coming years and beyond. We must first talk about the history of the middle class itself. Our estimates are that nearly 20 million more people will enter the middle class over the next five years,” Mann said.
“We should already see two million more people moving into higher income groups, and we are seeing more international travel from India than at any other time in history. In the case of India, it is the largest and fastest growing major market in the world, currently and in the foreseeable future.
In the first three months of 2024, 97 million passengers passed through Indian airports. Ten years ago, it would have taken a year to reach this figure. Domestic passenger traffic is 21 percent higher than 2019 levels, with international passenger traffic up 4 percent in March 2024.
The MEI report also found that Indian travelers to key markets increased significantly in 2024 compared to 2019. Visitors to Japan increased by 53 percent, Vietnam by 248 percent, which was attributed to the addition of direct flights, and to visitors to the United States. jumped 59 percent.
Domestic travel in China remains strong
The MEI report highlights that travel in mainland China has changed, with more and more Chinese tourists favoring domestic travel over international travel.
“We actually saw a full recovery in the number of domestic travelers in China from a year ago. Even to this day, we are about 15 percent above where we were in 2019,” Mann said.
At the same time, international tourist traffic leaving mainland China continues to recover. It now stands at 80.3 percent of 2019 levels. In 2024, this trend is expected to increase due to visa waivers in Asia-Pacific and increased international flight capacity, notably benefiting destinations such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
“The majority of outbound travel we've seen from the Chinese mainland has been elsewhere in Asia, to parts of Europe and to the Middle East,” Mann said.
Leisure for longer
Mann noted that there was an increase in the trend for longer leisure, stating that “we are seeing tourists extend their trips in the Asia-Pacific region outside of Australia and New Zealand by approximately 1.2 days compared to what we saw in 2019 – so the average trip is 7.4 days.”
He added that this trend is driven by the affordability of destinations, warm weather and favorable exchange rates. This compares to the 2019 average of 6.1 days per trip. In Australia and New Zealand, the average length of stay increased to 5.4 days, an increase of 0.6 days compared to 2019.
“We think the biggest trends we've seen in these additional days of travel have been in places where hotel price increases have been relatively small,” Mann said, adding that “the more people stay the longer the expenses will be higher. on other things, not just the hotel, thus helping local economies even more.”
