THE ASIAN travel industry is set to continue growing, albeit at a slower pace, despite the turbulent economic conditions in Europe and the US threatening to spread to the region.
Speaking at Abacus Asia Travel Insights 2011 in Singapore earlier today, Robert Bailey, president and CEO, Abacus International, said: “Even though the climate of uncertainty caused by the financial crisis in Europe has affected travel to a degree, this has not translated into a big downturn in travel bookings.”
Market growth from Asia for 2011, anticipated by Abacus at the start of the year to reach four to eight per cent, has been revised downwards to two to four per cent. On the other hand, 2010 was a record year, with Abacus claiming that booking volumes from Asia swelled by 12 per cent.
“Hong Kong, Singapore, China and India remain the main engines of growth for the Asian travel industry, which is being powered by the strong economic growth within these markets,” said Bailey. “Travel remains reasonably resilient.”
A survey conducted by Abacus prior to the European economic crisis found that 75 per cent of travel companies interviewed anticipated business from Asia to expand by more than 10 per cent in the next 12 months, while 25.8 per cent projected growth to exceed 20 per cent.
“We acknowledge that the figures may not be as strong currently,” said Bailey, adding that there was a “clear risk that business sentiment would eventually soften by year-end”.
“Looking forward to 2012, we will probably adopt a more conservative outlook,” he added.
