Bangkok remains the most visited destination in Asia-Pacific while Singapore continues to lead in total visitor expenditure, according to the latest findings from the Mastercard Asia-Pacific Destinations Index 2017.
Overnight arrivals to the 171 Asia-Pacific destinations surveyed in 2016 stood at 339.2 million (9.8 per cent CAGR 2009-2016), led by Bangkok which tracked 19.3 million visitors.
Bangkok
Singapore (13.1 million) came in second, followed by Tokyo (12.6 million), Seoul (12.4 million) and Kuala Lumpur (11.3 million). China stands as Asia-Pacific’s most avid outbound travel market, having contributed 55 million international overnight visitors to the region last year or 16.2 per cent of the total.
Overall, the report noted an “unprecedented jump” in international overnight arrivals into Asia-Pacific, with half of the region’s 20 most visited destinations seeing more than 10 per cent growth from 2015 to 2016.
Destinations that benefitted most from this growth include North-east and South-east Asian markets – Seoul (32.7 per cent), Osaka (23.8 per cent), Bali (22.5 per cent), Tokyo (22.2 per cent), Hokkaido (21.9 per cent), Chiba (21.5 per cent) and Pattaya (20.6 per cent).
Meanwhile, spurred by Asia-Pacific’s burgeoning middle class, overall tourism expenditure in the region jumped from US$141.5 billion in 2009 to US$244.9 billion in 2016, an 8.2 per cent CAGR.
Singapore attracted the highest spending visitors at US$254 per day, a 18 per cent leap, followed by Beijing (US$242), Shanghai (US$234), Hong Kong (US$211) and Taipei (US$208).
The mass of tourists from North-east Asia helped boost earnings, according to the report. China (17.7 per cent) and South Korea (8.8 per cent) were the largest contributors to tourism expenditure in Asia-Pacific. The two markets were top source markets for Singapore (China #1), Bangkok (China #1) and Tokyo (South Korea #1, China #2).
