A year-on-year comparison shows that in the first eight months of 2011 the number of Asians travelling abroad rose by 6%. The numbers are forecast to grow by 5% for 2012.

The middle class, particularly in China, India and Southeast Asia, is driving the tourism boom in the Asia Pacific region due to increasing prosperity among them.

In China the continuing economic boom has fuelled a desire among its people to travel within their own country, a development that will also benefit the travel industry in both Europe and the Americas. (pictured left: Tourists in The Forbidden City).•

The prospects for Asia remain good as 32% of the respondents surveyed said they would travel more than in 2011, while 37% wanted to travel as often. Only 19% said they would travel less.

Dr Martin Buck, director of the Competence Center Travel and Logistics at Messe Berlin (pictured below), said that Asia remains one of the world’s fastest-growing travel markets, and also has great potential for the European travel industry.

“Many tourism companies have already realised this. Simply describing one’s products in Mandarin is not enough. Marketing efforts must also take typical local aspects into account In China, for instance, firewalls block international networking sites such as Facebook.The best way to reach Chinese people is via a local equivalent called RenRen.”

Other key findings:

• Diverse range of travel products:  Upmarket urban life in Asia has generated a demand for specialised products, such as history and culture, “edutainment” parks, adventure holidays, luxury travel and sports tourism.

• LCCs boost growth:  In recent years the emergence of low cost airlines has resulted in rising numbers of Asians travelling within Asia. More Arab airlines flying to Asia will also generate more trips. In 2012 Japan will become part of the Asian low cost carrier network, thus giving a fillip to the country’s travel industry

• APAC continues to fascinate:  Countries in APAC, particularlyin Southern and Southeast Asia, reported significant growth in arrivals. Thailand led with 16 million visitors per year, and Vietnam with five million tourists from abroad. Other increasingly popular countries include Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, all recording two-digit growth this year.

• Decline in arrivals to Northeast Asia:  Visitor arrivals to Northeast Asia dropped, with Japan being the hardest hit. To date inbound tourism to Japan has failed to recover since the earthquake disaster in March 2011. During the first nine months of this year the country’s travel industry suffered a 30% drop in tourism. However, unlike after previous crises, a rapid recovery is taking place. Despite the disaster the Japanese are still travelling, with trips abroad falling by only 6%. In the months after the disaster destinations in Asia benefited from Japanese tourists. According to the Japan Travel Bureau Foundation, the stress experienced after the disaster motivated people to travel instead of keeping them at home.

• Details of global travel trends will be presented by the ITB World Travel Trends Report, which will be published in early December at theITB website.