Southeast Asia:  The region saw a growth of 15.5% growth during the month of June, maintaining the positive momentum of the previous months. The rebound in arrivals to Thailand (+54%) contributed to this growth, supported by the other destinations in the region, all of which enjoyed double-digit growth.

Strong travel demand within ASEAN, and an increase in arrivals from China are also factors contributing to the positive arrival figures.

South Asia:  International arrivals growth was a robust 12% in June, boosted by double-digit increases in inbound numbers to Nepal (+38%), the Maldives (+27%) and Sri Lanka (+20%). India maintained the same pace of growth as in the previous month at 7%.  European arrivals contributed mainly to this growth.

Northeast Asia:  The region saw 3.7% increase in arrivals for June, after a slow growth of 0.6% in May.

Japan continues to recover, reducing losses in inbound arrivals from -63% in April to -50% in May and -36% in June. Countries experiencing slow growth were Chinese Taipei (-2%) and China (+1%). However Hong Kong, (+16%), Macau (+15%) and South Korea (+11%) enjoyed buoyant growth for the month.

The Pacific: International arrivals declined by 4% in June with Australia (-4%) and New Zealand (-10%) showing significant decreases compared to the corresponding period last year. This downturn was caused partly by the ash cloud disruption to air travel from the Chilean volcano and the continued effects of the earthquake in Christchurch.

Some Pacific Island nations still showed positive growth, especially Palau (+63%), Vanuatu (+27%), Tahiti (+19%), Papua New Guinea (+16%), New Caledonia (+11%) and Cook Island (+8%).

Kris Lim, director of PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre, said that the first half year’s growth of 5% underlined the resilience of travel and tourism in APAC.

“The comparatively weaker economies of the USA and Europe mean that much of this growth has had to come from intra-regional travel, and this in turn has only been possible because of the stronger regional economies and the continued expansion of airline seat capacity within the region.”

Lim added that at the current rate of growth overall arrivals to the region would push to the 433 million mark by the end of the year, up from 408 million last year.

“While European arrivals remain key to South Asia’s growth, Southeast Asia will be driven by the rapidly growing China and India outbound markets while Northeast Asia is expected to see strong gains in arrivals from Southeast Asia driven by the steadily growing low-cost carriers network,” he added

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