What are the top travel trends in Asia? Ask Skift

The Asia-Pacific region is expected to play a key role in the growth of the tourism industry this year. Skift Research predicts that travel revenue in the region will jump 20% in 2024 from the previous year as outbound travel from China is expected to increase significantly.

So what are the top travel trends in Asia? We posed the question to our Ask Skift AI chatbot. Ask Skift uses information that has appeared in our past news and research. We also did additional reporting.

Ask Skift said:

The top travel trends in Asia in 2024 and beyond are shaped by several key factors:

The Renaissance of China: China leads the Asia-Pacific region in terms of travel, and other countries that rely on Chinese travelers, such as Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia, are also seeing improvement. Despite expectations, the volume of travel from China did not recover as quickly after the reopening of borders, but a significant recovery is expected, with an 80% growth forecast for departures from China in 2024 and a further 46% in 2025.

Booming Tourism Industry in India: India’s tourism sector has gained momentum and the country is expected to become the third largest inbound and fifth largest outbound travel market by 2027. Indian travelers visiting Vietnam have grown significantly, making India one of the top 10 inbound markets for Vietnam.

Emerging hotspots: Cities such as Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei City and Osaka emerged as the most popular travel destinations in 2024.

Impact of mass tourism events: Events such as the opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, India, and the Coldplay concert in Singapore have boosted the tourism industry in these areas, highlighting the impact of mass tourism events on travel performance.

Increased prices of plane tickets: Airfare prices for flights to Asia have increased by 45% compared to 2019, indicating a potential premium that tourists may have to pay to travel to Asia in 2024.

What else you need to know:

Travelers from Asia-Pacific countries are increasingly opting for cashless payment. The number of travelers from the region using cash has fallen by 60% since the pandemic, according to Visa’s 2023 Global Travel Intentions Study.

Japan will ban the use of cash at the Expo 2025 World Expo in Osaka, where all visitors must pay for shopping, dining and other activities through a special smartphone app or with credit and smart cards. An estimated 28 million people are expected to visit the Expo in the six months from April 2025.

The Asia-Pacific region is also seeing a growing demand for vacation rentals. Data from 16 Asian countries revealed that vacation rental bookings increased by 84% between 2022 and 2023, according to Trip101, a travel recommendation startup.

When it comes to activities they might participate in during their travels, Asian travelers express a greater interest in experiences. Some 77% of respondents said they want to invest more in different and new experiences on the road, according to MMGY Travel Intelligence’s 2023 “Portrait of Asian International Travelers” research report.

Skift reported last November that Chinese travelers in particular are increasingly interested in experiences, with Asia editor Peden Doma Bhutia writing that their desire for experiences and cultural immersion has surpassed that of visiting as many destinations as possible in record time.

Finally, visa-free travel is booming in the region, with Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore lifting visa requirements for Chinese travelers. The moves paid dividends for these three Southeast Asian destinations as Chinese visitor numbers and spending exceeded pre-Covid levels during the recent Lunar New Year holiday.

China has long been a major tourism market for Southeast Asian countries. An estimated 11 million Chinese travelers visited Thailand in 2019, accounting for more than a quarter of the kingdom’s arrivals that year.

Beijing also removed visa requirements for visitors from certain countries. Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced earlier this month that the Chinese government will offer visa-free entry to citizens of Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg from March 14. China to exempt travelers from 15 countries from July 2023

Photo: Japan – like many destinations in Asia – is expected to see a tourism boom in 2024.