Tourism down 90% for Asia-Pacific, slow visitor growth expected

September 5, 2022 World iGaming & Gambling

The travel industry is trying to recover post-pandemic, but data shows that while tourism is surging in Europe and America, the Asia Pacific region is struggling.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation forecasts foreign visitors to Asia and Pacific countries to remain at just 30% of pre-pandemic levels this year.

However, the Tourism Association here in New Zealand says that’s not expected to be the case here.

Europe is leading the recovery of international tourism with people flocking back after Covid-19 locked them out.

It’s also a top spot for kiwi travellers.

Steve Lawson a travel broker says that “the majority of that is visiting friends and relations, family. Not so much actual holidays but catching up with people they’ve missed over covid.”

UN data shows in the first five months of this year foreign visitors to Europe were down 36% on pre-pandemic levels.

Compare that to Asia and the Pacific where tourist numbers are 90% below what they were two years ago.

“Asia, I think it’s very quiet because prior to covid we had up to five Chinese carriers, in conjunction with the pacific and that, we don’t have those coming in at the moment,” Lawson said.

China being closed is also a major factor, it was a big source of visitors to the region, especially New Zealand.

“So that is certainly being noticed, but it’s winter time here and we haven’t really been expecting to see visitors in numbers till our summer,” Said Ann-Marie Johnson from Tourism Industry Aotearoa.

The UN World Tourism Organisation expects the Asia-Pacific region to lag for the rest of this year.

It’s forecasting visitor numbers of just 30% on pre-pandemic levels.

But for New Zealand, the outlook is more positive.

“At present, we’re seeing around 50% of the arrivals into New Zealand that we saw pre-pandemic, we’re expecting those numbers will grow as we come into summer,” Ann-Marie Johnson said.

Covid-19 has forced many hotspots to rethink their approach to tourism – especially in the pacific.

It’s an industry that hopes it will have fully recovered in the next three years.