A new report indicates that the Asia-Pacific travel industry may be the world-wide first to recover by 2023.
A publication by the World Travel & Tourism Council reports that, compared with pre-covid levels, tourism revenue in 2020 dropped more in Asia-Pacific (59%) than anywhere else.
Recovery in the region was sluggish in 2021, with most countries up-holding strict border restrictions.
Tourism revenue’s contribution to regional gross domestic product rose about 16%, lower than 23% in North America and 28% in Europe.
However, the report shows Asia-Pacific is expected to close the gap this year, with the amount of travel revenue contributing to the overall economy forecast to grow by 71%.
Travel in Asia-Pacific is soaring this year — restrictions were first eased in Australia and India, then Thailand, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian nations, followed most recently by South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan in the north.
The WTTC’s report estimates that by 2025, travel revenue will contribute 32% more to the region’s GDP than it did before the pandemic — a number that far exceeds every other region’s, except that of the Middle East (30%).
The WTTC also predicts the global travel industry will add 126 million new jobs in the next decade. Of this, it says, about 65% will be in Asia-Pacific.
