NEW consumer preferences and habits have emerged in the first half of 2024 in the Asia-Pacific tourism sector, which is recovering from the pandemic years in an uneven manner.
The post-Covid tourism surge from 2022 was initially powered by more affluent tourists seeking relaxation amid nature, user convenience, and sustainable and authentic local tourism experiences, all enabled by heightened digitisation of travel.
Those trends have since evolved.
Travel experts speaking at the Pacific Asia Travel Association's (Pata) "Navigating the Path to Tourism Recovery" webinar recently said that megatrends — such as value for money, seamless booking and payments, and travel that aligns more to consumer values — are now the hallmarks of post-pandemic tourism in the region.
"Destinations that deliver safety, relaxation, value, good quality food and drink, and access to natural attractions will continue to do well," said Euromonitor International senior head Caroline Bremner.
She said younger (Gen Z) travellers prefer personalised, authentic local experiences, with price not being as much of a consideration compared with much older baby boomers who seek value.
"Free cancellations, easy digital payments, reliable user reviews, free upgrades, and personalised recommendations, especially from family or friends, turn lookers into bookers," added Bremner.
Chinese tourists
However, tourism experts at the webinar said Chinese outbound tourism was still lagging, dampening tourism performance in Asia-Pacific destinations.
China's neighbouring destinations, such as Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Macau, may not fully recover until the end of 2026 due to Chinese travellers opting to stay home or travel domestically instead of abroad.
Destinations such as India and Thailand, which have nearly recovered or, in Singapore's case, exceeded their high-point 2019 tourism arrival levels, did so by attracting tourists from Australia, Europe and the United States to compensate for the absence of Chinese and Japanese visitors.
China as a destination has its challenges too.
Dr Anyu Liu, of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said tourist arrivals to China are only around 80 per cent of 2019 levels and may return to around 96 per cent only by the end of 2026.
Liu said inflation, labour supply challenges and regional conflicts were dampening recovery.
Addressing the issues raised by the webinar, Pata chief executive officer Noor Ahmad Hamid said tourism in the Asia-Pacific region could be enhanced by air capacity improvements, better land-based regional connectivity, improved training to attract and retain skilled personnel, and an easing of visa restrictions.
AI in travel
Looking at a quickly arriving travel tech future, the webinar speakers said artificial intelligence (AI) was a significant concern as it could be manipulated to perpetuate bias and misinformation, especially in travel marketing.
Bremner said: "AI needs to be used responsibly and carefully as a travel enabler.
"It is necessary to keep destination information honest and up to date as AI bots search the Internet for publicly available data."
The speakers also said AI was being used to suggest travel itineraries and to train hospitality staff in educational settings.
Could AI bots replace tourism forecasters in universities?
Liu said: "We did internal tests to see if ChatGPT could generate more accurate forecasts than us.
"So far, we're safe," he quipped.