PATA Travel Monitor gives cause for optimism
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Figures reported in PATA’s Travel Monitor for the third quarter of 2008 reflect the growing impact of the global economic downturn on travel and tourism across the Asia Pacific region. But the Monitor, which analyses international arrivals figures obtained exclusively by PATA, also indicates cause for optimism in certain destinations.
For Q3 2008, international arrivals in 35 destinations show a decrease of just 1% compared to the same period in 2007 whilst figures for the first nine months of 2008 show a year-on-year increase of 3%.
“Earlier this year we were predicting year-on-year growth for the region at between 7-8%. Our report shows that, despite the gloomy global economic outlook, some individual source markets were growing to a number of specific destinations,” commented PATA Strategic Intelligence Director, John Koldowski. These include travellers from Iran to Malaysia (up 162%), Thailand to Macau (up 132%) and Russia to the Maldives (up 55%).
PATA also confirms earlier predictions by its analysts that some long-haul travel would be sacrificed in favour of short and media haul trips. International arrivals to Malaysia from Indonesia rose more than 45% year-on-year in Q3 2008, while China to Macau (16%) and China to Hong Kong (9%) also saw significant rises.
Thailand, which faced additional domestic challenges, saw international arrivals to Suvarnabhumi airport in Q3 fall by 16% year-on-year, but figures for January-September show modest growth of almost 4%. However the latest Travel Monitor does not cover the period when Bangkok’s main international airport was closed.
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