Trips abroad from Asia are continuing to increase. After surging by seven percent in 2018, during the first eight months of 2019 they rose by a further six percent. This is in part due to international trips within Asia, which are a significant growth driver. Despite an anticipated decline in year-on-year growth, the prospects for 2020 remain good. These are the findings of the first trend analysis of the World Travel Monitor, to be presented by IPK International in Singapore. The World Travel Monitor is based on the results of representative interviews with more than 500,000 people in over 60 global travel markets. It has been compiled for more than 20 years and is recognized as the most wide-scale continuous survey of global travel trends.
According to the World Travel Monitor, between January and August 2019 outbound travel from Asia rose by six per cent, once again making Asia the biggest growth driver in the international tourism market. ”Growth in Asia’s foreign travel market continues to exceed the global average, which during the first eight months of the year was only four per cent“, said Julia Mühlberger, marketing consultant, IPK International.
A closer look at the latest figures shows a further upward trend in trips to destinations within Asia. During the first eight months of 2019, for the first time foreign trips within Asia accounted for nearly 80 per cent of the market.
During the same period European countries registered a slight increase in travelers from Asia. At 15 percent, they occupied a sound share of the market. In contrast, America’s popularity with Asian travelers fell for the third year running. The country now accounts for only eight percent of the market.
Per trip, Asian travelers spend considerably more than other nationalities, despite shorter stays. According to the World Travel Monitor®, Asians stayed for an average of 5.9 nights on outbound trips. This was a slight increase over last year’s figure (5.6 overnights). However, the figure was much lower than the global average (eight nights). Despite this, at 1,570 euros per trip spending by Asians abroad during the first eight months of 2019 significantly exceeded the global average (1,280 euros).
