The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is projecting a strong increase in international visitor arrivals (IVAs) to the Asia-Pacific region.
This has been driven by the average annual growth rate of 5.3 percent between 2014 and 2019, and that momentum is expected to increase even further over the next five years, to average 6.3% per annum between 2019 and 2024.
According to PATA, this will result in an acceleration of more than 256 million additional IVAs into the region between 2019 and 2024, a significant increase over the additional volume of 162 million added between 2014 and 2019.
The distribution of these IVAs in Asia-Pacific is expected to change only marginally from 2019, with the Asia and Pacific regions expected to show some relative, as well as absolute increases in arrival numbers.
Asia is forecast to remain as the dominant destination region and is likely to improve its relative share to over 77% by 2024. The Americas will come in second, although its share is expected to reduce slightly over the period between 2019 and 2024.
As a generator of IVAs into and across Asia-Pacific however, Asia is predicted to continue growing in relative share, accounting for almost 68% of all IVAs into the region in 2024. This is likely to be at the expense of both the Americas and Europe, both of which are predicted to wane, at least in terms of their respective shares as source regions for Asia-Pacific, between 2014 and 2024.
In commenting on these forecasts, PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy points out that, “For many destinations, there is now an immediate and necessary shift from generating arrivals to properly managing those visitors. It is no longer enough to think and talk about this, the time to put into action such management practices that ensure that visitors into and across the Asia Pacific region receive a superlative and memorable experience is now.”
“The tourism juggernaut is a reality, and this means that, as a socio-economic sector, travel and tourism needs to ensure that it has the necessary mindset and infrastructure – both hard and soft – to enable growth of this magnitude to be properly managed. It is incumbent upon us all to deliver both memorable experiences and positive outcomes for visitors, residents and the environment in equal measure.”
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