Asia Pacific

Effective from 8 Jan 2023, the Chinese government lifted inbound travel restrictions, such as testing and contact tracing passes, effectively ending the country’s “zero-Covid” policy practiced for the last three years. Subsequently, international…

The full resumption of quarantine-free travel is the major driver of the expected exceptional spike in inbound arrivals to Hong Kong in 2023. Inbound arrivals are expected to recover to more than 60% of the 2019 level in 2023, with full recovery…

In 2023, international events, coupled with initiatives by the government, have been allowing inbound tourism to witness healthy growth, which is ultimately expected to drive current value sales beyond the pre-pandemic level, seen in 2019. Inbound…

In 2023, tourism flows are expected to show a significant increase compared to 2022. This has already been seen in the first quarter of 2023. Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, Timor Leste and India were still the countries that made the largest…

Lagging slightly behind many other countries globally, Japan finally eased its various regulations around COVID-19 in 2023. This has been very significant for the travel industry, not only in terms of deregulation, but also in terms of changes in…

After surpassing the initial target for tourist arrivals in 2022, Malaysia is projected to continue on the path to recovery in 2023, albeit the number of inbound arrivals is expected to remain well below pre-pandemic levels, in terms of number of…

While the tourism industry in Asia Pacific was experiencing a slow recovery during the early stages of reopening, Singapore managed to stay ahead. In fact, Singapore welcomed travellers who were completely vaccinated when its border reopened in April…

In 2022, travel restrictions that the Korean government had introduced as part of pandemic measures were eased for both inbound and outbound travellers in stages, while most countries had removed their stringent travel restrictions due to the waning…

Following the lifting of all COVID-19-related entry restrictions in October 2022, the volume of inbound arrivals to Taiwan in 2023 dramatically increased. The government also resumed visa-free travel for citizens of major countries within Europe,…

The volume of inbound arrivals increased for the second consecutive year in 2023, following the lifting of all remaining COVID-19 related entry restrictions in October 2022. The return of tourists from other countries in Asia-Pacific, notably China,…

Inbound arrivals (in terms of number of trips) continued to recover in 2023, having recorded triple-digit growth over the previous year. This followed the easing of all remaining international travel restrictions, including COVID-19 test…

Tourism flows are rebounding strongly in 2023, however some challenges remain to limit the growth of inbound tourism. Namely, short visa duration periods are one of the significant factors limiting flows into Vietnam. Although the country reopened…

Travel sales in China are set to strongly rebound in 2023, following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in the country and the reopening of the border to inbound arrivals. In terms of domestic tourism, volume is predicted to recover faster than…

2023 is the year that travel in Hong Kong is set to start to see significant recovery from the pandemic. The Hong Kong government gradually released COVID-19-related restrictions from the last quarter of 2022, and started to welcome visitors from…

In 2023, inbound travel to India is set to see robust growth on the back of international events, coupled with government initiatives. Global political gatherings such as the G20 summit, and the hosting of international sporting events have helped…

The Indonesian travel industry is showing significant expansion in 2023. The main reason behind this growth is the revocation of the PPKM (Community Activities Restrictions Enforcement) policy at the end of 2022, which has resulted in much greater…

Japan finally eased its various regulations around COVID-19 in 2023. This has had a significant impact on the travel industry in 2023, not only in terms of deregulation, but also in terms of changes in consumers’ perception of and behaviour towards…

Travel in Malaysia continues on a strong path to recovery boosted by the end of the pandemic and a strong desire to travel again. There has been a significant increase in international travel thanks to the lifting of restrictions and COVID-19 related…

Singapore continues to recover strongly in 2023. While the travel and tourism industry in Asia Pacific experienced a slow recovery during the early stages of reopening, Singapore has managed to stay ahead. However, the primary inbound source markets,…

In 2022, the gradual removal of pandemic-related restrictions in South Korea led to a significant surge in outbound travel demand. This trend continues in 2023. Outbound travellers in both 2022 and 2023 have also been spending considerable sums of…