Asia-Pac to see fastest growth in visitor flow

VISITOR flows from the Asia-Pacific and outbound travel spending from the region's travellers are both expected to grow at a double-digit clip over the next decade, a study said.

According to a report by Oxford Economics which was commissioned by travel software firm Amadeus, the Asia-Pacific will be the fastest growing region in terms of visitor flows, projected to rise at an average rate of 15.1 per cent per year between 2013 and 2023. The region will also surpass the growth pace of other regions such as the Middle East & Africa (11.9 per cent), the Americas (6.4 per cent) and Europe (3.9 per cent). In contrast, global visitor flows are expected to increase by 5.4 per cent per annum over the next decade, outstripping the expected GDP growth rate of 3.4 per cent.

In terms of absolute numbers, however, Europe will remain the biggest region in terms of tourist flows, followed by the Asia Pacific, the Americas and Middle East & Africa.