It is important to understand not only how continuously rising travel numbers impact cities and destinations for the better, but also the challenges they pose,– Rupert Naylor, senior vice president, data & services, Asia Pacific, Mastercard
SINGAPORE - Japan is now the hottest destination in Asia and Okinawa, the country’s tropical getaway, is Asia Pacific’s fastest growing tourist destination, just ahead of Ludhiana in India’s northern state of Punjab.
The tourism hotspot rankings were revealed in Mastercard’s Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2019 (APDI which ranks 161 Asia Pacific destinations according to the number of overnight international visitor arrivals that they receive, as well as their cross-border spending.
Okinawa has surged in the Mastercard rankings, gaining 109 places since 2009.
Japan is the only market in the APDI to command 25% of Asia Pacific’s top 20 destinations, with Okinawa nudging out Kyoto to join the list for the first time, alongside Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido and Chiba.
Ludhiana has jumped 78 places in the index since 2009. Dubbed the “Manchester of India” for its production of textiles and hosiery, Ludhiana is the only industrial city in this list of fast risers.
Sri Lanka’s coastal getaway Galle is in ninth, having climbed 54 places in the rankings since 2009. While China’s panda capital Chengdu rounds out the rankings, coming in tenth after jumping 50 places in the last nine years.
While many Asia Pacific destinations are basking in the growth led by mainland Chinese travellers, South Korea and Japan are also noteworthy as the next biggest Asian origin markets fuelling rising travel expenditure and overnight arrivals across the region.
Top contributor mainland China accounts for 18.2% of international overnight arrivals within the region, while South Korea contributes 9.1% and Japan makes up 6.0%.
Mastercard says another source market to watch is India, home to the world’s second largest population. In 2018, India recorded 14.9 million outbound travellers, of which nearly half visited destinations in Asia Pacific. Their most favoured Asia Pacific destinations were Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Pattaya and Bali.
Since 2009, overnight arrivals by mainland Chinese travellers in markets across Asia Pacific surged from 10.5 million to 62.4 million in 2018, representing a 21.9% compound annual growth rate over the period.
Five destinations – Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Seoul – attract 22% of the arrivals and 25.2% of the region’s travel expenditure, fuelled in large part by mainland Chinese travellers making overnight trips to the region
Notably, mainland China is amongst the top three source markets of outbound travellers for 82 cities in Asia Pacific, or more than half of the 161 destinations in the APDI.
“It is important to understand not only how continuously rising travel numbers impact cities and destinations for the better, but also the challenges they pose,” said Rupert Naylor, senior vice president, data & services, Asia Pacific, Mastercard.
“This equips governments, merchants and the global travel industry with the information and insights they need to better serve their residents and visitors.”
The Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index (APDI) ranks 161 cities based on proprietary analysis of information from third-party sources such as the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), International Air Transport Association (IATA), UNWTO, UN, IMF and national tourism boards. This Index and all accompanying reports are not based on Mastercard volumes or transactional data.