Travelers from Asia-Pacific are filling up their passport pages at a faster rate than their global counterparts and are now leading the world in leisure travel, according to Visa’s Global Travel Intentions Study 2015.
The Study shows that travelers from the Asia-Pacific region took more leisure trips in the past two years than any of the other countries surveyed, with more than eight in 10 of those in the region having travelled solely for leisure in that time, well ahead of the global average of 76 percent, including the Americas (79 percent) and Europe (81 percent). The Study also found leisure travel to be most prevalent among the affluent (88 percent) and among 36 to 44 year olds (80 percent).
On average, Asia-Pacific travelers who took part in the Study made six international trips in the past two years, three of which were for leisure. In addition, according to the Study findings, Asia-Pacific travelers are the most likely to mix business with leisure while overseas. Just under a quarter of Asia-Pacific travelers say their most recent trip was for business and leisure, ahead of the global average of 16 percent.
Vivian Pan, Senior Director of cross-border and channel marketing, Visa Asia-Pacific, commented on the research: “Asia-Pacific is an extremely well-connected region, and going abroad for leisure travel holds a special appeal for Asia-Pacific travelers as they are keen to explore new places and gain new international experiences. This love of international travel, coupled with rising disposable personal incomes, has led to travelers from this region driving the increased desire for more trips, leading to more travel spending.”
In the past two years, the global survey showed travelers from Singapore took the most leisure trips (95 percent), followed by those from Hong Kong (92 percent), South Korea (90 percent) and Malaysia (90 percent).
Future Travel Spending from Asia-Pacific
Future spending on international leisure travel from Asia-Pacific travelers looks bright for the travel industry as well, with Asia-Pacific leading globally with the sharpest rise in terms of likelihood to spend more (71 percent), followed by the Americas (66 percent) and Europe (56 percent).
According to the Study, respondents from Asia-Pacific indicated that their travel spend for their next trip is likely to average US$3,501. Travelers from China, India and Australia are likely to be the top spenders from Asia-Pacific countries on their next trip, (US$4,501 each), which ranks them third globally behind travelers from the United States and Saudi Arabia (US$5,501 each).
