Asia-Pacific travel and tourism statistics in 2023

Updated February 2023 – With countries heavily impacted by harsh border restrictions, the Asia-Pacific region was no exception. Countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia closed their borders to international travelers and limited domestic movement, causing the tourism industry within these regions to be heavily affected.

Fortunately, in 2023 the APAC region has started to see a positive trend.From digital trends in tourism to the rise in sustainable travel, in this article, we will identify the most prominent trends in travel and tourism in 2022 within the Asia-Pacific region. These statistics will provide tour and activity operators with valuable insight to adapt their business to the latest trends.

The tourism and travel statistics below were gathered from a survey conducted by Rezdy.

The behaviors of travelers in the Asia-Pacific

With the close proximity between Asian-Pacific countries, it’s no surprise that travelers within this region love to travel. And with traveling in 2023 becoming a whole lot easier, find out how Asia-pacific travelers are exploring the world in 2023.

• According to recent Australian tourism statistics, Australian travellers spend 16% more time on average booking a trip in 2022 than they did in 2019. (Tripadvisor)
• Australians devote 60% of their time to planning trips (Tripadvisor)
• Travelers in Singapore spend 68% of their time researching local travel review sites (Tripadvisor)
• 6 in 10 Singaporeans are planning to travel as most countries’ restrictions have eased, with 40% have booked a trip (Traveldailynews)
• 50% of Singaporean travelers are planning to take one trip while 30% are planning to take two trips during the summer (Traveldailynews)
• Almost 1 in 2 (46%) would like to have a trip that lasts at least 6 days
• Travelers aged between 18-25 are also most keen on taking trips that last 6-9 days (31%), or a trip of 4-5 days (29%) (Traveldailynews)
• Travelers aged between 26-35 are also most keen on taking trips that last 4-5 days (37%), or a trip of 6–9-days (32%) (Traveldailynews)
• 42% of travelers said international travel is a high-priority spending area for the coming year, far higher than domestic travel, fashion, and eating out (Traveldailynews)

The road to recovery

There’s no doubt that the tourism industry within the Asia-pacific region faced many downfalls as a result of countries enforcing strict travel restrictions. This was especially prevalent in countries such as Australia and New Zealand and popular tourist destinations like Bali, Indonesia. Fortunately, tourism has started to pick up once again in 2023 and the APAC experiences industry is finally on its road to recovery.

• New Zealand was the largest source country, accounting for 24% of all visitor arrivals in Australia. (ABS)
• There were 1,191,830 visitor arrivals in Australia, almost 8 times higher than the previous year. (ABS)
• Revenue in the Travel & Tourism market is projected to reach US$10.84bn in 2022. (Statista)
• In the Travel & Tourism market, 75% of total revenue will be generated through online sales by 2026. (Statista)
• The APAC travel industry is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4% between 2021 and 2024 – when it’s expected to hit 500 million arrivals by 2024 (Euromonitor)
• APAC travel sales forecast by 2024 (Euromonitor)

• APAC attractions and experiences sales forecast by 2024 (Euromonitor)

• In the first two months of 2022, Southeast Asia has welcomed more than 580,000 international visitors in total, a substantial +102% increase year-on-year (Hospitalitynet)
• Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) projected that international visitor arrivals into Asia will grow by 100% between 2022 and 2023 (Traveldailynews)
• The Asia-Pacific region (APAC) has the highest growth potential in the online travel booking industry – with China and India leading the way. This growth can be attributed to the growth of the middle-class income group, increase in disposable income, and wider access to the internet (GBTA)

Inbound & outbound travel in 2022

As travel begins to resume within the Asia-Pacific region, find out which countries and destinations have been the most popular.

Top 5 countries traveling to Australia

• NZ
• Indonesia
• Singapore
• UK
• Thailand

(Traveldailynews)

Top destinations for APAC travelers

• Bangkok
• Jeju Island
• Kuala Lumpur
• Tokyo
• Seoul
• Singapore
• Bali
• Pattaya
• Penang
• Hong Kong

(Traveldailynews)

The rise in sustainable travel 

With the rising awareness surrounding sustainability and the impacts tourism has on the environment, green tourism is a hot topic. Find out what travelers in Asia-Pacific think of sustainable travel. 

• 93% of Indian travelers affirm that sustainable travel is important to them (Traveldailynews)
• 77% of Singaporean travelers show a strong belief in the need to prioritize sustainable travel (Traveldailynews)

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