According to the findings of the ITB World Travel Trends Report by IPK International, as the global recession bites, Asian tourism is moving increasingly towards a reliance on tourists from within Asia. However, the traditional tourism generating powerhouses of Japan and South Korea are facing painful economic problems. Only China and India currently offer much hope. Even in these two emerging markets, travellers have already reduced their trips and say they will reduce more in 2009. The report has been officially published today in Germany by Messe Berlin which organises ITB Asia, the trade show for the Asian travel market. The show will take place in Singapore from October 21-23 this year, covering not only the leisure market, but corporate and MICE travel also.
The report draws on results from the World Travel Monitor® by IPK, a continuous and representative survey interviewing 5,00,000 persons in 58 countries around the world each year. Combined with statistics from the UNWTO, the report delivers a highly detailed picture of what happened in 2008 and what is likely to happen in 2009 and beyond. |