PATA reports 2008 arrivals growth, despite Q4 declines
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There are some small crumbs of comfort for the travel industry in the latest PATA Quarterly Tourism Monitor. Although figures just released for Q4 2008 covering 37 destinations show a year-on-year drop of 2.8% in international arrivals, the dip was not sufficient to drag the annual growth figure into negative territory.
Provisional results show a modest 1.9% growth for calendar year 2008 in these same 37 destinations in the Americas, Asia and Pacific regions, with only the Pacific region suffering a drop (4.6%) compared to 2007.
Some markets showed remarkable levels of growth year-on-year in the final three months of 2008 but often growing from relatively small numerical bases. It was good news for Mexico (up 9.1 % in Q4 08 and 5.9% full-year); Bhutan (37.9% Q4, 31.2% FY); Indonesia (17.2% Q4, 15.4% FY); New Caledonia (38.7% Q4, 23.2% FY) and Papua New Guinea (39.1% Q4, 15.4% FY).
The figures are much less encouraging for Sri Lanka (down 15.6% in Q4 08 and down 11.2% full-year); Thailand (-28% Q4, -5% FY); Hawaii (-15.5% Q4, -10.6%); Tahiti (-15.1% Q4, -10.0% FY) and Japan (-12.2% Q4, but up 2.2% FY).
Regionally, while the Pacific declined, Americas showed annual growth of 3.5%, Northeast Asia grew 1.6%; South Asia 3.9% and Southeast Asia 2.3%.
“It’s clear that we have some way to go before we can see real, uninterrupted light at the end of the tunnel,” said PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre Director, John Koldowski. “We know that travel trends are changing, and changing fast. This will have a varying degree of impact on destinations across the Asia Pacific and beyond. The belt tightening will undoubtedly continue and the battle for market-share is now in full swing.”
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