Asia's
affluent middle class is set to increase almost fivefold over the next
20 years, presenting significant opportunities for Australian tourism,
according to a new report released by Tourism Australia and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) at this year's Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE).
'Key Outbound Tourism Markets in South-East Asia'
provides up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of the major tourism
trends and developments in five key South-East Asian outbound markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Tourism
Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the study would help the
Australian tourism industry to better understand, communicate with, and
serve these five, key emerging outbound markets.
"The
crucial factor behind the growth of travel out of the Asian markets -
from South-East Asia as much as from China - is the increasing middle
class population of those source countries due to their growing economic
prosperity.
"Each market is different, but they all
possess significant potential, which we need to understand to really
make the most of this Asian Century," Mr McEvoy said.
UNWTO
Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai said around 30 per cent of the world's
middle class population is now in Asia and this figure is expected to
increase almost fivefold over the next 20 years, to 3.4 billion or 60%
of the world's total.
"UNWTO is very pleased to have
partnered with Tourism Australia in producing this report that sheds new
light on the travel trends of these countries," said Mr Rifai.
The
new report provides detailed profiles of each market based on extensive
research, including analysis of their future potential.
In 2012, these five countries accounted for US$ 47 billion in international tourism expenditure, up from US$ 25 billion in 2006.
Mr
McEvoy said that each of the five countries had its own unique
characteristics but that they all had the potential to be significant
future source markets for Australian tourism in the coming years.
"Indonesia
stands out because of the size of the country and its population.
Whilst it has a long way to go to realise its potential, Indonesia is
making rapid progress and is very much on our radar," he said.
"Singapore
is notable for its wealth and is by far the largest of the five markets
in terms of spending. It's also a more mature market, the only country
in this study where outbound travel - long-haul and short-haul - is
already a reality for the majority of residents.
"Malaysia
is similar to Singapore in terms of the current levels of outbound
travel, but at the moment those trips are predominantly short-haul,
often the same day. The spending power of Malaysians is not as high as
Singaporeans, but higher than in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, so
there's good potential here too.
"Thailand has arguably
been hampered in recent times by political upheavals and environmental
catastrophes, such as recent flooding, but nevertheless still presents
sizeable opportunities for economic and outbound tourism growth.
"Vietnam
has a large population, but average incomes are still very low. In
terms of current spend and visitation, is by far the smallest of the
five markets at the moment, but also the fastest growing," Mr McEvoy
said.
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