30 June 2003SYDNEY - Asian destinations are already responding
strongly to the lifting of the World Health Organisation's
final advisory on SARS, according to bookings registered at
HotelClub.net.
The online accommodation provider claims it has seen
substantial increases in bookings this month.
"As Asia becomes increasingly more popular and Europe in
its peak season, HotelClub's global bookings have increased
by 124 per cent in June," it said.
"What is positive for the region is bookings to Asian
destinations have exceeded this figure and are up by 153
per cent on May's bookings.
This regional growth can be attributed to strong
performances by countries including Hong Kong, Singapore,
Thailand, Malaysia and Japan, who all reported above
average bookings on HotelClub."
Hong Kong and Singapore - who were cleared by the World
Health Organisation on June 23 and May 31 respectively -
both saw substantial growth in June. Hong Kong saw record
growth with bookings up by 386 per cent on previous months,
whilst Singapore's June bookings rose by over 200 per
cent.
"HotelClub's booking data reveals that there has not
only been an increase in travel within the region, but more
importantly our key customer bases in Europe and North
America have returned or are planning to travel to Asia in
the near future" said HotelClub's director of marketing,
Chloe Lim.