The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) predicts annual changes in international visitor arrivals (IVAs) across the region to turn positive this year with significant gains versus 2021, though still well below 2019 levels, which are not expected to recover until 2024.
The forecast follows on from the release of the association’s executive summary at the end of last month and is detailed in the PATA Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2022-2024 Full Report released last week.
That report offers three scenarios for the current year – mild, medium, and severe – with IVA growth rates ranging between 126% and 84% respectively.
The increase in the absolute number of international visitor arrivals is predicted to range from 72.5 million to 175.7 million under the severe and mild scenarios respectively, lifting the total volume of visitor arrivals to between 159 million and 315 million, under those same scenarios respectively.
While it is a positive and welcome development after two years of extremely difficult conditions, the international travel and tourism sector of the Asia Pacific region still has much to repair and revitalize. The forecasted increases in inbound visitor numbers in 2022, for example, still only return them to 23-45% of the level of foreign arrivals received in pre-pandemic 2019.
Moving forward to 2024, IVA growth over the next three years is projected to be positive, with the volume of IVAs in 2024 being equal to, or better than that of 2019, under two of the three scenarios.
“As noted by our panel, the effect of the omicron variant is projected to have a small incremental impact for now with the key earlier assumptions still driving the forecast,” said PATA CEO Liz Ortiguera.
She added, ““Destinations across Asia Pacific have been highly focussed on implementing health and safety measures. In parallel, various research studies and early travel patterns indicate a heightened consumer interest in a pivot to the right side of travel – longer journeys, more authentic experiences, and nature-based, wellness-oriented, and socially-conscious travel offerings are amongst the key trends for today’s travellers.”
Oritguera also reiterated that equitable access and deployment of vaccines plus a practical risk-based approach to health and safety protocols in travel is the key to not only the travel sector’s sustained recovery but to the overall global recovery from the pandemic.
“We share the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) view that the pharmaceutical sector must address barriers to access and affordability for all destinations. Furthermore, as acknowledged by the WHO, travel bans will not prevent international spread. Instead, travel channels should remain open with clear, practical guidelines as recently shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and WHO.”
In the meantime, she urged destinations to expedite their recovery by staying top-of-mind with consumers, communicating requirements with clarity and consistency, and offering a sustainable, healthy destination experience.