Bangkok remains the most visited destination in Asia-Pacific while Singapore continues to lead in total visitor expenditure, according to the latest findings from the Mastercard Asia-Pacific Destinations Index 2017.

Overnight arrivals to the 171 Asia-Pacific destinations surveyed in 2016 stood at 339.2 million (9.8 per cent CAGR 2009-2016), led by Bangkok which tracked 19.3 million visitors.

Bangkok

Singapore (13.1 million) came in second, followed by Tokyo (12.6 million), Seoul (12.4 million) and Kuala Lumpur (11.3 million). China stands as Asia-Pacific’s most avid outbound travel market, having contributed 55 million international overnight visitors to the region last year or 16.2 per cent of the total.

Overall, the report noted an “unprecedented jump” in international overnight arrivals into Asia-Pacific, with half of the region’s 20 most visited destinations seeing more than 10 per cent growth from 2015 to 2016.

Destinations that benefitted most from this growth include North-east and South-east Asian markets – Seoul (32.7 per cent), Osaka (23.8 per cent), Bali (22.5 per cent), Tokyo (22.2 per cent), Hokkaido (21.9 per cent), Chiba (21.5 per cent) and Pattaya (20.6 per cent).

Meanwhile, spurred by Asia-Pacific’s burgeoning middle class, overall tourism expenditure in the region jumped from US$141.5 billion in 2009 to US$244.9 billion in 2016, an 8.2 per cent CAGR.

Singapore attracted the highest spending visitors at US$254 per day, a 18 per cent leap, followed by Beijing (US$242), Shanghai (US$234), Hong Kong (US$211) and Taipei (US$208).

The mass of tourists from North-east Asia helped boost earnings, according to the report. China (17.7 per cent) and South Korea (8.8 per cent) were the largest contributors to tourism expenditure in Asia-Pacific. The two markets were top source markets for Singapore (China #1), Bangkok (China #1) and Tokyo (South Korea #1, China #2).

Malaysia and Singapore have topped the list of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and non-OIC markets respectively for the third consecutive year, according to the Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2017.

The GMTI, which covers 130 destinations, saw Malaysia keep its top spot while Indonesia moved up to third place in the overall rankings.

Meanwhile, Singapore retained its pole position for the non-OIC destinations, followed by other Asian countries in the top five: Thailand (2nd), Hong Kong (5^th) and Japan (6th).

On the combined overall list, Singapore remains the only non-OIC destination in top 10. A number of non-OIC destinations in Asia also moved up the rankings, a result of their concerted efforts to adapt their services to cater to and attract the Muslim travel market.

Indonesia, Japan and Taiwan made the biggest improvements in the overall top 10 ranking.

As a whole, Asia remains the world’s most attractive region to Muslim tourists with an average GMTI score of 57.6, followed by Africa (47), Oceania (43.8), Europe (39.9) and the Americas (33.7) respectively.

As well, research also showed that the Muslim travel sector is estimated to grow to US$220 billion in 2020 and US$300 billion by 2026.

From the estimated 121 million in 2016 – up from 117 million in 2015 – Muslim visitor arrivals are forecasted to grow to 156 million visitors by 2020 to represent10 per cent of the travel segment.

Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating and HalalTrip, said: “We are definitely seeing the influence of a new breed of young travellers, millennials and Gen Z who are combining technology with a real desire to explore the world while still adhering to their faith-based needs. They will be the driving force for the next phase of growth.”

Safdar Khan, Mastercard’s division president, Indonesia, Malaysia & Brunei, added: “With an overall expenditure of around US$155 billion in 2016, the Muslim travel market remains a strong driver for the continued growth in travel across the world. It’s constantly evolving with major forces such as changing demographics and digitisation shaping the way the industry is progressing.”

Myanmar’s four key beach destinations – Ngapali, Kawthaung, Ngwe Saung and Chaungtha – are emerging as up-and-coming tropical getaway spots in Asia, each with its own distinct characteristics.

According to C9 Hotelworks’ new Ngapali Beach Tourism Market Review, the impact of more airlift to Ngapali’s main gateway of Thandwe last year pushed growth up 28 per cent, leading to a total of 71,603 passengers arriving in Ngapali via domestic flights from Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay, Heho and Sittwe. Germany, the UK, France, Switzerland and Italy were the top five international source markets.

Ngapali beach

With Thandwe Hotel Zone recording a 31 per cent increase in visitors to 72,353 in 2016, the local government now plans to extend the zone and is “in advanced discussions to add direct international flights”, according to C9 Hotelworks’ Ngapali Tourism Market Review.

Sixty nine per cent of hotel demand in Ngapali comes from overseas travellers, but domestic tourism is rising fast. C9’s managing director, Bill Barnett, said: “Local travellers in tourist accommodations grew 79 per cent compared to 11 per cent by foreigners for the same period.”

With new demand, hotel occupancy levels on an annualised basis now exceed 60 per cent. Average room rates in upscale accommodation ranges from US$150-200. One key addition to the market has been the arrival of the Hilton brand.

Crowding in the Thandwe Hotel Zone has prompted the government to work on expanding the zone south by seven kilometres. The extension will be developed in two phases and add roadways, electricity and other public service to the area.

And due to limited land with beach access, new hotel establishments are now moving inland and south of Ngapali. Overall, there are only 26 hotel establishments in Ngapali hosting a total of 878 keys; 516 keys are currently under development.

With high room rate and mounting demand, C9 foresees Myanmar’s big four beach destinations (Ngapali, Kawthaung, Ngwe Saung and Chaungtha) would attract a significant amount of attention from both domestic and international hospitality players.

Kawthaung is rapidly evolving as a tourism hub for the Mergui Archipelago and the connection to the nearby Thai market of Greater Phuket via Phang Nga and Ranong has many synergies.

Ngwe Saung and Chaungtha, given their driving access from Yangon, clearly are more attractive to surging domestic numbers and more volume driven products.

Travellers from Asia-Pacific are venturing to North American and European destinations in 2Q2017 compared to local and regional ones in 1Q2017, bucking the global trend of fewer travellers planning to visit major US cities this spring, revealed performance marketing engine Sojern in its Q2 Global Travel Insights report.

Singapore and Sydney moved out of the top five most searched beach destinations while Honolulu and Phuket entered the ranking, which according to Sojern demonstrates that early planners are open to new destinations as long as these offer the activity or sight they are looking for.

Waikiki beach, Honolulu

Retaining their placing in the top five are Barcelona, Denpasar and Melbourne.

Comparing the top metropolitan destinations, the company saw Seoul and Taipei drop out of the top five, replaced by Bangkok and Paris. Tokyo, Singapore and London are the other three in the top five.

Sojern further observes that Auckland, Nagoya and Bangkok were edged out from the sightseeing/recreational top five by Okinawa, Rome and Melbourne.

Meanwhile, the company said that with June 23 topping the list of departure dates, “it is clear that Asia-Pacific travellers are looking to take a long weekend to celebrate” the end of Ramadan.

“Asian travel marketers know now that travellers are trying to decide just how long a long weekend they will take – with both the Thursday and Friday before Eid al-Fitr on the top departure dates list,” read a Sojern statement.

“This presents a prime opportunity to engage new customers and Sojern recommends targeting them with a combination of upper-funnel brand messaging to introduce them to your brand and mid-funnel engagement campaigns to nurture them through the funnel.”

International tourist arrivals worldwide reached 369 million in January-April 2017, up six per cent from the same period last year, with business confidence reaching its highest levels in a decade, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.

Destinations that were affected by negative events in 2016 continued to rebound in the first part of 2017, with improved arrivals performance in the Middle East (+10 per cent), Africa (+eight per cent) and Europe (+six per cent).

In Europe, where security concerns impacted tourism last year, Southern Mediterranean Europe saw a nine per cent increase as compared with one per cent in 2016, while Western Europe recorded a four per cent boost compared with flat growth in 2016.

Meanwhile, Northern Europe (+nine per cent) continued to post growth, while Central and Eastern Europe was in line with results of last year with a four per cent increase.

Continued growth was seen in Asia-Pacific, where international arrivals were up six per cent through April, led by South Asia (+14 per cent) followed by Oceania (+seven per cent), South-east Asia (+six per cent) and North-east Asia (+five per cent).

International arrivals in the Americas were up four per cent with strong results in South America and Central America (both +seven per cent), while arrivals in North America grew by three per cent and in the Caribbean by two per cent.

The current strong momentum is reflected in the UNWTO Panel of Tourism Experts confidence index, which evaluated tourism performance in the first four months of 2017 with the highest score in 12 years.

Confidence levels for the current May-August period are expected to be sustained at a decade-long high, also driven by upbeat expectations in Europe.

The latest annual Brand Finance Hotels 50 report by valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance has ranked Hilton the world’s most valuable hotel brand with a value of US$8.4 billion, up seven per cent from 2016.

Hilton remains one of the world’s most powerful brands (rated AAA) thanks to its variety of brand building initiatives, including recent CSR partnerships with Global Sustainable Solutions and ORCA to reduce food waste and improve recycling, and allowing direct bookings through Tripadvisor.

Following in the next four spots are also US-based brands Marriott, Hyatt, Sheraton and Holiday Inn respectively.

These brands have remained tops despite 2016 being a year of challenges such as the effect of US president Donald Trump’s election, Brexit as well as the rapid growth of Airbnb.

Airbnb’s brand value is growing more rapidly than any major hotel brand, increasing 52 per cent year-on-year to reach a total of US$3.7 billion, making it more valuable than all but four of the world’s biggest hotel brands.

Meanwhile, the same report puts Premier Inn as the most powerful hotel brand, owing to the mass-market, UK-focused company’s ability to live up to its name across a broad range of metrics, from marketing investment to familiarity and consideration.

Holiday Inn and Days Inn are ranked second and third most powerful hotel brands respectively by Brand Finance.

The full report can be viewed here.