GlobalData’s latest report, ‘ASEAN Destination Tourism Insight Report including International Arrivals, Domestic Trips, Key Source / Origin Markets, Trends, Tourist Profiles, Spend Analysis, Key Infrastructure Projects and Attractions, Risks and Future Opportunities, 2022 Update’ reveals that the ASEAN region boomed as a destination prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Inbound arrivals to the 10 ASEAN member countries grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7% between 2016 and 2019.
Hannah Free, Travel and Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Plummeting traveller confidence, coupled with some of the world’s strictest entry requirements saw tourism numbers shrink to mere fractions of what they were in pre-pandemic times. GlobalData figures reveal that inbound flows to the ASEAN region declined by 78.8% YoY to 29 million in 2020.”
Many tourism-dependent economies and businesses in the ASEAN member states were particularly left vulnerable due to over-dependence on Chinese tourism. China’s rapidly swelling middle class sparked a boom in overseas trips, with many attracted to nearby ASEAN countries.
In 2014, China accounted for just 13% of arrivals to the ASEAN bloc. By 2019, this had grown to 23%. However, the ASEAN region’s ability to achieve international arrival levels like that of 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be undermined the longer China adheres to its zero COVID-19 strategy.
Free concludes: “As the member countries go through phased re-openings and travel begins to resume worldwide, GlobalData forecasts the inbound flows to grow at a CAGR of 10.7% between 2022 and 2024, to reach 142 million international arrivals in 2024. Increasing integration and cooperation between the 10 member states in tourism promotion and development spells for a brighter future for ASEAN economic recovery.”
Tags: ASEAN, Asia, Tourism, GlobalData
