The Asia Pacific tourism sector, which is recovering in an uneven manner from the pandemic period, has seen new consumer preferences and habits emerge in the first half of 2024.
The post-COVID-19 tourism surge in 2022 and beyond will initially be driven by more affluent tourists seeking relaxation amidst nature, user-friendliness and sustainable and authentic local tourism experiences, driven by the increased digitalization of travel.
Since then, this trend has evolved. Megatrends such as value for money, seamless booking and payment, and travel more aligned with consumer values are now hallmarks of post-tourism, travel experts said at the Pacific Asia Travel Association's “Navigating the Path to Tourism Recovery” webinar on June 6. Pandemic tourism in the region.
Caroline Bremner, senior director of travel research at Euromonitor International, said destinations that offer safety, relaxation, value, quality food and drink and access to natural attractions will continue to perform well. She noted that younger (Gen Z) travelers far prefer personalized, authentic, local experiences without considering price, compared to much older, value-seeking baby boomers.
Free cancellation, easy digital payments, trusted user reviews, free upgrades and personalized recommendations (especially from family and friends) can help you convert seekers into bookers, Mr. Bremner said.
There are no Chinese tourists
However, tourism experts attending the webinar said outbound tourism from China remains sluggish, slowing tourism performance in the Asia-Pacific region. In fact, China's neighboring destinations, including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Macau, may not fully recover until the end of 2026 as Chinese travelers choose to travel domestically instead of abroad or choose to stay home.
Destinations such as India and Thailand, where tourist arrival levels have nearly recovered in 2019 or, in the case of Singapore, exceeded record levels, have achieved this by attracting tourists from markets such as Australia, Europe and the US to compensate for the Chinese and Japanese from further afield. .
As a travel destination, China also has its challenges. Dr Anyu Liu, of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said the number of international tourists to China is currently only about 80% of 2019 levels and could return to about 96% by the end of 2026. Dr. Liu said inflation, labor supply issues and regional conflicts were slowing the recovery.
Addressing issues raised in the webinar across the Asia-Pacific region, Mr Noor Ahmad Hamid, CEO of PATA, said tourism in the Asia-Pacific region could be improved through improved air capacity, improved land-based regional connectivity and improved training for attraction. said. Retain a skilled workforce and ease visa restrictions.
Artificial Intelligence in Travel
Looking at the rapidly emerging future of travel technology, webinar presenters said AI is a big concern because it can be manipulated to perpetuate bias and misinformation, especially in travel marketing. Bremner said AI must be used responsibly and judiciously as a travel enabler.
Because AI bots are constantly scraping the Internet for publicly available data, it's necessary to keep your destination information honest and up-to-date.
Speakers also noted that AI is already being used to suggest travel itineraries and train service staff in educational settings.
Can AI robots replace university tourism forecasters? “We conducted some internal tests to see if ChatGPT could produce more accurate predictions than ours,” said Dr. Liu. “So far we are safe.” he said wittily.
PATA will release its first half tourism outlook report for 39 destinations in the Asia Pacific region on June 25. Asia Pacific visitor forecasts for 2024-2026 are available in the research section of PATA.org.