ASIA PACIFIC. Outbound travel numbers from emerging Asia Pacific countries will grow more than twice as fast as those from “developed” countries over the next five years, according to Mastercard’s Outbound Travel in Asia Pacific 2016 to 2021 report published today.
The number of travellers from emerging countries already outflanks developed nations by one and a half times.
China is expected to be the largest outbound travel market in 2021 with 103.4 million trips, constituting an amazing 40% of all Asia Pacific outbound travel – nearly four times that of the #2 and #3 markets, South Korea (25.6 million) and India (21.5 million).
Myanmar is projected to be the fastest-growing outbound travel market with a +10.6% annual growth rate over the next five years, followed by Vietnam (+9.5%), Indonesia (+8.6%), China (+8.5%), and India (+8.2%). Among developed Asia Pacific markets, the fastest growing will be South Korea (+3.8%), followed by Singapore (+3.5%), Australia (+3.5%) and New Zealand (+3.4%).
Collectively, Asia Pacific markets are expected to grow by +6% annually from 2016 to 2021.
Mastercard Advisors Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific Eric Schneider commented, “The burgeoning middle class is driving the growth of outbound travel in Asia Pacific, along with other trends such as the emergence of the Asian millennial traveller and on the other end of the spectrum the senior traveller, as well as new technology and infrastructure developments.
“Asia Pacific travellers will continue to fuel global tourism growth in years to come, providing vast opportunities for businesses to benefit through the development of products and solutions that seek to improve their overall travel experiences.”
Outbound travel growth to outstrip real GDP growth
According to the study, outbound travel is forecast to grow faster than real GDP. Mastercard said that outbound travel growth tends to be higher than real GDP growth for emerging markets compared to developed markets (except for Japan) where outbound travel growth is much closer to their forecasted real GDP growth.
Emerging markets such as Myanmar (+10.6% vs. +7.7%), Vietnam (+9.5% vs. +6.2%), Indonesia (+8.6% vs. +5.7%), Thailand (+4.8% vs. +3.1%) and China (+8.5% vs. +6%) are expected to grow faster than real GDP.
Growth of outbound travel in relation to total number of households
By 2021, all developed markets in Asia Pacific (except for Japan) will have a ratio of over 100% for outbound travel trips to total number of households. Households in Singapore (693.6%), Hong Kong (248.9%) and Taiwan (232%) have the highest propensity to travel abroad.
Among emerging markets, Malaysia is expected to record the highest ratio of 198.7% by 2021, whereas India (7.3%), Bangladesh (7.4%), Myanmar (14.6%) and Indonesia (15.4%) are currrently among the lowest. This indicates strong growth potential for outbound travel in these markets over the next ten to 20 years, assuming an increasing propensity to travel is combined with a healthy increase in households.
Download the full report here: http://news.mstr.cd/2hI8SMc
About the Mastercard Future of Outbound Travel in Asia Pacific Report
The Mastercard Future of Outbound Travel in Asia Pacific Report presents an update of Asia Pacific’s regional outlook of outbound travel from 2016 to 2021 at various household income ranges combined with a five-year forecast of household growth.
The data is taken from the 2011 to 2016 editions of the Mastercard Survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities – Travel. Data for outbound travel from 2013 to 2015 was taken from the national statistics boards of the relevant markets, and that for 2015 and 2016 were calculated using estimates from the 2016 edition of the Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index.
