ASIA PACIFIC. Bangkok remains the most visited destination in Asia Pacific – but Singapore leads the way in terms of total visitor expenditure, according to new research.
The Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017 shows that Singapore has seen a +18% leap in visitor spend over the past two years (2015-16). Singapore attracted the highest-spending visitors at US$254 per day, followed by Beijing (US$242), Shanghai (US$234), Hong Kong (US$211) and Taipei (US$208).
Mastercard Research Economist Desmond Choong commented in the report: “Fuelled by increasing consumer wealth amongst Asia Pacific’s emerging markets, the region’s thriving tourism industry continues to show vigorous progress. It is the world’s fastest growing region for international tourism by GDP contribution, with tourism making up 8.5% of Asia Pacific’s GDP and 8.7% of total employment last year.”
Overnight arrivals
Half of the top 20 most visited destinations in Asia Pacific saw more than +10% growth in international overnight arrivals from 2015 to 2016. Leading the way were: Seoul (+32.7%), Osaka (+23.8%), Bali (+22.5%), Tokyo (+22.2%), Hokkaido (+21.9%), Chiba (+21.5%) and Pattaya (+20.6%).
“This growth provides significant opportunities which governments, tourism bodies, and merchants can benefit from, including greater economic, cultural and infrastructural development,” said Choong. “To ensure sustainable growth, public and private sectors are working to create more welcoming spaces for visitors and residents alike – as well as more seamless ways to get around destinations.”
Overnight arrivals to the 171 Asia Pacific destinations tracked in the report in 2016 stood at 339.2 million (+9.8% compound annual growth rate from 2009-2016), led by Bangkok which tracked 19.3 million visitors. Singapore (13.1 million) came in second place, followed by Tokyo (12.6 million), Seoul (12.4 million) and Kuala Lumpur (11.3 million). China is Asia Pacific’s “most avid” outbound travel market, having contributed 55 million international overnight visitors to the region last year, some 16.2% of the total.
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Total nights stayed
The Mastercard report found that visitors to Asia Pacific destinations are travelling to the region more, and doing so for longer periods. In 2016, visitors to the region stayed for a total of 1,768.7 million nights, a +8.1% compound annual growth rate from 1,023.1 million nights in 2009. Bangkok registered 87.6 million nights, followed by Sydney with 87.5 million, and Kuala Lumpur at 76.7 million.
“Sydney’s second-place position is especially outstanding compared to its number of overnight arrivals. Taking 20th place in the latter ranking, Sydney’s ratio of average number nights stayed versus number of overnight arrivals is shared by fellow Australian destinations Melbourne and Brisbane on the Index. As many tourists have to travel a distance to reach Australia, they are more likely to stay for longer periods to make their journey worthwhile,” Choong said.
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Overall visitor spend
Overall tourism expenditure in the region jumped from US$141.5 billion in 2009 to US$244.9 billion in 2016, a +8.2% compound annual growth rate. Mastercard said the growth was spurred by Asia Pacific’s burgeoning middle class. Asia Pacific’s top 20 source markets contributed US$201.5 billion to the region’s tourism revenues in 2016.
“The mass of tourists from Northeast Asia have helped to boost these earnings,” Choong said. “Key findings from the Index revealed China (17.7%) and South Korea (8.8%) as the largest contributors to tourism expenditure in Asia Pacific. In fact, these two markets were also top source markets for Singapore, Bangkok and Tokyo, the region’s leading destinations by visitor expenditure. As renowned global shopping and dining locales, they are popular amongst affluent Chinese and South Korean tourists seeking new shopping or culinary experiences.”
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The full report can be downloaded here.
