Latest research from Visa and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) shows optimism is returning among travelers as fewer people worry about the affect of economic uncertainty on their travel plans. Compared with last year’s survey, 16 percent fewer respondents in the Visa and PATA Asia Pacific Travel Intentions Survey 2010 said economic uncertainty would affect their travel plans over the next 12 months…
Latest research from Visa and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) shows optimism is returning among travelers as fewer people worry about the affect of economic uncertainty on their travel plans.
Compared with last year’s survey, 16 percent fewer respondents in the Visa and PATA Asia Pacific Travel Intentions Survey 2010 said economic uncertainty would affect their travel plans over the next 12 months.
In 2009, 64 percent of respondents said they would postpone their trip, travel domestically or look to less expensive destinations as they worried about how they would be affected by economic uncertainty. This year, only 48 percent of the respondents surveyed felt the same.
Ross Jackson, Head of Cross-Border Business, Asia Pacific, Visa, said: “One of the things we knew from last year’s survey was that travel plans were being scaled back or postponed. This year, the improvement in consumer optimism is sure to be welcome news for all tourism operators as they look to attract people keen to see more of the Asia Pacific region.” This optimism to resume travel was felt most strongly in Japan. Last year’s survey saw 78 percent of Japanese respondents changing their travel plans due to economic uncertainty. This year that sentiment has dropped to only 45 percent.
In a further boost to the Asia Pacific tourism industry, the survey also found that people intended to take at least four international trips and three domestic trips over the next 24 months. They were also planning to spend slightly more on their next overseas trip (up US$116 to US$1,644 on average per trip).
In line with PATA projections that China will be the single largest source of outbound tourism in the Asia Pacific region by 20123, respondents from Mainland China indicated the strongest appetite for travel – both international and domestic. In the next two years, they plan to travel on average at least seven times. Singaporean respondents were the next most frequent travelers with at least six trips planned over the next two years.
Those in Asia Pacific planning the highest number of domestic holidays were from Mainland China (average of close to five trips over the next two years), followed by respondents from Malaysia, New Zealand and India (average of four trips over the next two years).
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
