Tourism in Asia-Pacific to rebound to pre-pandemic level by 2024: ADB

Tourism recovery in Asia and Pacific region has picked up speed and might rebound to the pre-pandemic level by 2024, according to a report released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday.

The Asian Economic Integration Report 2023 said international tourist arrivals in the Asia-Pacific region rose by 399 percent year-on-year for the first eight months of 2022, but only to 10.3 percent of the 2019 numbers, according to Xinhua.

“The variation is largely driven by differences in the pace of border reopening, public health protocols, and people’s confidence in overseas travel,” the report noted.

The report added that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict also continued to pose a downside risk to Asian tourism, a potential loss of about one-third of Russia’s outbound tourists.

“Higher fuel prices translating to higher airfares and travel expenses, alongside weak global growth prospects, are dampening the recovery momentum,” the report said.

For post-pandemic recovery, the report believed that economies in the region need to look at several policy options to build sustainability and resilience while addressing pre-pandemic challenges such as narrow source markets, lack of infrastructure, and high informality.

“Greater regional cooperation is needed to deal with the prolonged challenges,” added the report.

India plans to promote green tourism

India plans to promote green tourism, open up to 50 new tourism destinations, and launch a publicity campaign in overseas markets during its presidency of the G20 this year, officials told reuters.

India will host more than 200 G20 meetings at over 50 locations during the year, including key tourist attractions in Rajasthan, Goa, and Jammu & Kashmir regions, as well as near the archaeological site of Dholavira in Gujarat and other historical monuments, officials said.

“G20 will be used to position India as a major tourism destination during its presidency of G20 for 2023,” a senior government official, who attended the first meeting of G20 Tourism Working Group in the state of Gujarat, told Reuters.

India took on the G20 presidency in December. The group is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s 20 major developed and developing economies.