Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #39

ASIA / PACIFIC INBOUND
FACTS & FIGURES
Chinese tourists visiting
Taman Negara National Park,
Malaysia
ASIA LEADS GLOBAL TOURISM
GROWTH IN 2018
According to figures published by the UNWTO in June,
Asia and the Pacific (+8%) recorded the highest growth
across world regions this January-April 2018 period, after a
6% increase in 2017. Results in Asia were driven by South-
East Asia (+10%) where most destinations posted strong
results, particularly Vietnam (+28% through May) which
has seen a surge in international tourists in recent years.
Philippines enjoyed a 15% increase in arrivals this period
and Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia all 14% growth.
South Asian destinations (+9%)
also enjoyed a strong start of
the year, with Sri Lanka (+15%),
Nepal (+13%), Maldives (+11%)
and India (+9%) all reporting
robust growth.
International arrivals in North East
Asia increased 6%, led by Japan
(+15%), which has become a
major destination in the region
following six straight years of
double-digit growth.
Macao, China (+9%) and
Hong Kong, China (+7%) also
reported solid results, while data
from China, the region’s largest
destination is still pending for
2018.
The continuous growth of
Chinese outbound travel is an
asset for all of Asia, the continent
being well-placed to reap the
benefits of China’s continuous
travel boom. In addition,
increased air travel competition,
good value for money in services,
easier visa entry facilities to an
increasing number of Asian
countries and quickly expanding
transportation infrastructures are
also stimulating travel demand in
the region.
INDIA’S INBOUND
TOURISM BOOM:
+15.6% IN 2017
India’s Minister of State for Tourism, KJ Alphons,
told us his country is experiencing a boom in
domestic and international tourism, with 10.2
million visitors received in 2017, up 15.6% on
2016, and that the introduction of e-visa has
been the biggest game changer for the Indian
Tourism Industry: “We now have a more liberalised
e-visa regime is in place. The window period for
application under the e-visa scheme has been
increased from 30 days to 120 days to allow
tourists plan their trip better. The stay duration has
also been increased from 30 days to 60 days with
double entry on e-tourist and e-business visas and
triple entry on e-medical visas. This will bring cheer
to citizens from 163 nations around the world
planning to visit India.”
The e-visa facility is now gives entry through 24
airports as well as five seaports (Cochin, Goa,
Mangalore, Mumbai and Chennai) to tap cruise
tourists from different countries. The requirement
of doing bio-metric visas for cruise passengers in
the five seaports has been deferred till 2020