For travellers who yearn for off-the-beaten-path experiences, whether to feed their desire to be first-movers or to avoid contributing to overtourism in hot locations, Asia-Pacific has plenty of gems waiting to be discovered
The new year is upon us, and with every new beginning is another opportunity to learn from the past and do better. It is so for us as individuals as well as for organisations in the travel and tourism industry. ‘Do better’ ought to be the motto for travel and tourism professionals, especially as the industry is so dependent on the well-being of the environment and host communities.
For our Outlook 2025 issue, we look at how people are expected to consume travel this year. Based on travel data and consumer studies, leading travel and tourism organisations say travellers will be expanding their itineraries to less crowded hidden gems, savouring their holidays at a slower pace, embracing all-inclusive resort stays, and tracking down speciality local goods. These motivations underscore the desire for more meaningful trips that also support local communities.
For travellers who yearn for off-the-beaten-path experiences, whether to feed their desire to be first-movers or to avoid contributing to overtourism in hot locations, Asia-Pacific has plenty of gems waiting to be discovered. Tourism authorities in this region have been leading campaigns to direct attention to cities and countrysides that have only been known to locals or have been transforming brilliantly to offer a warmer welcome. Tourism Western Australia, for example, went all out in 2024 to promote areas beyond well-known Perth. Also encouraging is the news that UN Tourism’s Best Tourism Villages initiative has expanded in 2024 to include 55 new qualified rural destinations, of which 13 are in our region (plus two in the Middle East).
Getting to secondary and tertiary destinations is also becoming easier, as low-cost carriers in our region rebuild their network strongly and into unserved/underserved routes.
Driving travellers deeper into areas and communities that hunger for tourism dollars is a collaborative effort, requiring the foresight of destination leadership, creativity and determination of tour operators and travel advisors, and the support of all in the travel and tourism eco-system. My team will do our part too, by building more content to highlight emerging destinations.
