Asia's Tourism Recovery Falls Short of Pre-Pandemic Levels
The aviation industry in the Asia-Pacific region is still grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the gradual easing of travel restrictions in key countries like China and Japan. This has led to concerns that Asia's title as the world's largest tourism region may be up for grabs, with Europe potentially poised to take the throne.
, a global aviation consulting firm, predicts that the Asia-Pacific region may no longer hold the top spot by the end of 2022. After making up over a third of global air passenger traffic before the pandemic, the region is still seeing a 45% drop in comparison.
Europe, on the other hand, is projected to recover nearly 85% of its pre-pandemic passenger figures, despite ongoing challenges from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This significant recovery hinges on several factors, but the region's swift reopening of borders to tourists is a key driver.
Slow and Steady Recovery
Just a few years ago, over 3.38 billion transit passengers passed through airports in the Asia-Pacific region. However, recent projections by , the regional branch representing the region's airports, suggest that only 1.84 billion passengers will pass through these hubs by the end of 2022.
The gradual recovery in the region is attributed to at least two key factors according to ACI Asia Pacific and CAPA: China's "Zero-Covid" border policy and Japan's slow-paced lifting of travel restrictions. Japan plans to reopen its borders to tourists on October 11.
"What happens there [in China and Japan] has significant ripple effects across the rest of the region," CAPA warned, pointing out that China and Japan are the region's two largest tourism markets.
According to CAPA, travel to most destinations in the Asia-Pacific region is still down by 50% or more compared to the 2019 figures, with a few exceptions, such as India, which is only 11% below its pre-pandemic levels.
Intra-regional travel has, however, shown signs of recovering faster than international travel. For instance, domestic travel in China has only seen a 5.4% decline compared to 2019 levels.
Looking ahead, CAPA forecasts that travel numbers in the Asia-Pacific region may not fully recover to 2019 levels until the end of 2023 or early 2024. Yet, the region's economic recovery depends on several factors:
- The lifting of border restrictions and the scrapping of long-term travel restrictions.
- Favorable economic and epidemiological conditions.
- An emphasis on harmonizing international travel regulations.
- A continuation of vaccination campaigns.
