HONG Kong generated the most interest from Chinese travellers this year, taking tops in the number of page views researching holiday destinations in the period leading up to and during the Lunar New Year.

This is according to DaoDao.com, TripAdvisor’s portal for Chinese users.

The most viewed shopping mall was the newly-opened Hysan Place in Causeway Bay, followed by Times Square, DFS at the Hong Kong International Airport, Sogo in TST and Langham Place Shopping Mall.

For accommodation, the city’s well-known five-star hotels such as The Langham, The Upper House, Langham Place, L’hotel Nina and Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel were among those gaining the most eyeballs. Three- and four-star hotels such as Disney’s Hollywood Hotel, Novotel on Nathan Road and Holiday Inn Express Causeway Bay also registered high viewership.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s guesthouses and unique concept properties such as Hello HK in Tsim Tsa Tsui, Causeway Bay Inn and T Hotel in Pokfulam also attracted the interest of Chinese travellers.

Other cities on the list of the top ten most viewed destinations include: Bangkok, Macau, Taipei, Singapore, Phuket, Seoul, Boracay, Dubai and Bali.

DESPITE the shorter month of February, global hotel bookings and rates surpassed those of the same month last year, with year-to-date bookings for both leisure and corporate exceeding levels recorded in previous years through 2007, pre-downturn.

Data from Pegasus Solutions indicates that global leisure bookings for February rose 1.4 per cent year-on-year, while year-to-date bookings grew 4.5 per cent over 2012 and surpassed every year since 2007 by 20 per cent or more.

Globally, leisure rates in February increased 1.9 per cent over 2012, while the average daily rate for the month was 0.2 per cent above the previous year’s, despite there being no increase since last May.

International corporate bookings for February 2013 were almost on a par with last year’s February, falling short by negative 0.3 per cent. Rates rose by 2.5 per cent, above January’s 2.1 per cent and year-to-date growth rates of 2.3 per cent.

In North America, bookings fell 1.5 per cent from 2012 though rates inched up 2.1 per cent.

Outside North America, the number of bookings for February were 1.2 per cent higher year-on-year. At the same time, rates climbed 2.2 per cent, an increase over the prior year not matched since September 2011.

Pegasus Solutions draws its data from billions of transactions processed monthly for nearly 100,000 hotels.

THAILAND, Indonesia and the Philippines dominate the top 10 island destinations in Asia, although they fail to make a dent in international rankings.

TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Islands judged destinations based on the quality and quantity of the most highly-rated hotels, restaurants and attractions listed for each island on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period.

The survey recognised more than 100 islands across the globe, with dedicated lists for Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, South America, the South Pacific and the US.

In Asia, Thailand had the strongest showing. Koh Tao, Koh Lanta, Phuket and Koh Samui weighed in at first, third, sixth and seventh spots respectively. Indonesia followed with Nusa Lembongan at second place and Gili Trawangan at fourth, while the Philippines saw Boracay at fifth place and Palawan at eighth.

Rounding up the list for Asia were Langkawi, Malaysia (ninth) and Havelock Island, India (10th).

On the international list, Koh Tao was the sole Asian representative, coming in eighth. The top three spots were occupied by Ambergris Caye, Belize; St John, US Virgin Islands; and Bora Bora, French Polynesia.

Top 10 islands in Asia:

1.     Koh Tao, Surat Thani, Thailand
2.     Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia
3.     Koh Lanta, Krabi, Thailand
4.     Gili Trawangan, Gili Islands, Indonesia
5.     Boracay, Visayas, Philippines
6.     Phuket, Thailand
7.     Koh Samui, Surat Thani, Thailand
8.     Palawan, Mimaropa, Philippines
9.     Langkawi, Malaysia
10.   Havelock Island, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Top 10 islands in the World:

1.     Ambergris Caye, Belize
2.     St. John, U.S Virgin Islands
3.     Bora Bora, French Polynesia
4.     San Juan Island, Washington
5.     Santorini, Greece
6.     Isla Mujeres, Mexico
7.     Moorea, French Polynesia
8.     Koh Tao, Thailand
9.     Easter Island, Chile
10.   Nosy Be, Madagascar

THE Philippines secured a record number of arrivals for the first two months of the year, posting 854,187 visitors in January and February 2013.

This is a 10.5 per cent year-on-year increase over the 772,989 arrivals in 2012, according to the Department of Tourism (DoT).

South Korea was the top contributor for January and February with 241,116 visitor or slightly over one quarter of total inbound traffic, also exhibiting growth of 25.6 per cent. Next came the US with 120,868 arrivals or 14.2 per cent of visitors, and Japan with 73,621.

Markets that displayed double-digit growth over this period were India (25 per cent), Russia (24 per cent), Malaysia (23 per cent), Hong Kong (19 per cent), Singapore (14.5 per cent) and Australia (11.4 per cent).

Regionally, visitors from South-east Asia grew 18.5 per cent and East Asia 14.6 per cent.

For February alone, arrivals leapt 15.5 per cent to 418,108, the first time February has seen more than 400,000 visitors. The Lunar New Year season buoyed growth from source markets – Hong Kong posted a 93.8 per cent growth rate, China, 69.9 per cent, Macau, 44 per cent and Taiwan, 20.7 per cent.

February also marked the third consecutive month the Philippines received over 400,000 visitors a month since December 2012, an upward trend the DoT predicts will continue into the summer months.

THE average price of a hotel room in Asia climbed two per cent in 2012 to 109 points on the Hotel Price Index (HPI), lagging behind the global growth average and a far cry from its 2007 HPI ranking of 131.

According to Hotels.com’s Hotel Price Index (HPI) Full Year 2012, hotel room prices across the world grew an average of three per cent last year. The Caribbean boasted the highest increase of six per cent, North America expanded five per cent and the Pacific gained four per cent.

The HPI looks at prices that guests paid for their hotel rooms.

Asia saw prices fluctuate during 2012 due to the fall of the Indian rupee, travel affected by territorial disputes involving China, Japan’s steady recovery from the March 2011 earthquake and flooding in Thailand.

However, Puerto Princesa in the Philippines bucked the trend by displaying 92 per cent growth in hotel prices. The country on the whole welcomed over four million arrivals in 2012 and other hotspots within the country such as Boracay have also seen hotel rates rise with the tide.

Nevertheless, Asia’s 2012 performance was more robust than in 2011 when prices fell due to Japan’s March 11 earthquake.

As hotel guests, Japanese nationals were the top spending market in the US with an average of US$209 per night going towards accommodation last year. The Japanese also came in first for international accommodation, at US$186 per night or a five per cent year-on-year increase.

But for domestic travel, Singaporeans and Australians were some of the most generous, splurging US$187 and US$178 respectively.

HOTEL transaction volume in Asia in 2012 fell to almost half of 2011’s, dropping from US$3.7 billion to US$1.9 billion, dragging down the global total.

Calling these figures a “big surprise” at HICAP Update, Mike Batchelor, managing director, investment sales, Jones Lang LaSalle’s (JLL) Hotels & Hospitality Group, pointed out that the main drops were from Singapore and China, with possible reasons being the “cost of real estate and high pricing that needs to be paid” to enter these markets. He revealed that the hotspots last year were Japan, Hong Kong and China, with shares of 23 per cent, 20 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.

Batchelor added that Asia remains a small market for hotel transaction volume compared to other regions – it is less than a tenth of the Americas’.

Hotel transaction volume in the Americas grew seven per cent from US$16.3 billion to US$17.5 billion, and Australia expanded eight per cent from US$1.3 billion to US$1.4 billion. Europe, the Middle East and Africa registered an eight per cent decline from US$11.9 billion to US$11 billion.

Globally, hotel transaction volume slid by five per cent to total US$31.8 billion in 2012. However, this is predicted to inch upwards by 3.8 per cent this year, touching US$33 billion.

Responding to the drop in Asia, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts vice president, development and projects, Asia-Pacific, Michael Cowan, said there could have been little impetus to sell in 2012, with family-owned businesses not in financial difficulty and no distressed assets.

Park Hotel Group CEO, Allen Law, noted that while the market had stabilised last year, he was “seeing a lot of action” in terms of investment leads across the region in 2013.

THE Asia-Pacific region posted groundbreaking growth in 2012, welcoming 350 million international visitors to the region, according to preliminary statistics by PATA.

These figures translate into more than five per cent growth year-on-year, adding over 18 million foreign visitors and marking the third consecutive year of positive growth.

In terms of volume, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan attracted more than one million additional arrivals last year, but the good progress award would have to go to Myanmar, Japan, Cambodia, Laos and Taiwan, all of whom boasted year-on-year increases of at least 20 per cent.

South-east Asia came out tops in annual percentage growth as a sub-region, having witnessed a 9.9 per cent hike or more than eight million additional arrivals last year, bringing total international inbound to almost 89 million arrivals.

In particular, Myanmar arrivals skyrocketed 52 per cent to break the one million mark. Cambodia and Laos boasted 24 per cent and 22 per cent increases respectively, pushing past the three million mark.

North-east Asia maintained four per cent growth in 2012, with almost 8.5 million more international arrivals year-on-year.

International arrivals to Japan recorded 35 per cent growth to overcome damage wrought by the March 2011 disaster and move once again into record arrivals territory.Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea added 20 per cent, 16 per cent and 14 per cent growth respectively.

Interestingly, China was one of the five reported contractions for the year with a 2.2 per cent fall or a decline of around three million international arrivals, which includes domestic travellers. However, foreign arrivals alone showed an increase of 1.6 per cent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, South Asia saw 6.6 per cent growth, adding over half a million international arrivals. The number of visitors to Sri Lanka rose by almost 18 per cent, busting the one million mark, while India welcomed 6.6 million arrivals, a year-on-year gain of close to 340,000.

Martin Craigs, CEO, PATA, said: “Asia and the Pacific continues to add substantially to the global international arrivals count. We expect that to continue for some time yet. The players shift and change of course and we can expect some movement in terms of generating and receiving markets. But across the region we expect substantial gains in both the volume and the value of these movements for some time yet.”

DEMAND for air travel continues to be on an upward trajectory this year, with Asia-Pacific airlines capturing over half of the growth in demand for international travel between October and January.

According to statistics released by IATA, overall demand showed a 2.7 per cent year-on-year increase from January last year and 2.2 per cent growth in capacity, while load averaged 77.1 per cent.

However, the association’s press release stated that the figures were distorted by the Lunar New Year season falling in February this year rather than January last year, and estimates actual growth to be higher at 3.5 per cent.

International flights outperformed the overall average with a 3.7 per cent increase in demand, 2.7 per cent growth in capacity and 77.6 per cent in load factors.

For Asia-Pacific airlines, load factors on international flights stood at 77.8 per cent, and demand rose three per cent after adjustment for seasonal factors. The Middle East and Latin America posted the strongest growth in demand, at 14.3 and 12.2 per cent respectively, and Africa reached 9.4 per cent. North America and Europe trailed with 1.5 per cent and 2.1 per cent expansion in demand respectively.

On the domestic front, capacity increased 1.4 per cent, demand hiked five per cent and load factor exceeded 80 per cent after taking seasonal effects into account.

China, the second largest market for domestic air travel, saw demand rise five per cent after seasonal adjustment and load factor at 77.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, demand fell three per cent in Japan, matched by a 2.9 per cent decline in capacity. Load factor was a weak 56.4 per cent, as the domestic market was still 12 per cent below pre-earthquake levels.

Demand was also down 4.9 per cent in India, where capacity tumbled 5.3 per cent and load factor posted 75.9 per cent.

ASIAN accommodations ranked third in being optimistic about their business prospects in 2013, with 42 per cent of providers indicating they plan to increase room rates.

These findings were reported in TripAdvisor’s TripBarometer survey, conducted with input from 35,000 travellers and accommodations.

Regionally, properties in North America were the most upbeat about 2013, with 82 per cent of participants saying they felt optimistic about business profitability this year. South America took second spot with 77 per cent, while Asia weighed in at third place with 72 per cent.

However, when it came to adding new jobs, Asia (32 per cent) was almost three times as likely to do so than Europe (12 per cent). The global average stands at 19 per cent.

The survey also stated that optimism on the part of accommodations was not unfounded as 50 per cent of travellers worldwide expect to increase their travel spend in 2013. By region, 76 per cent of African travellers and 75 per cent of the Middle Eastern travellers predicted doing so, while 49 per cent of Asians said they would spend more.

Meanwhile, travellers worldwide are going online to reserve a room – 27 per cent book through OTAs and 23 per cent, the accommodations’ own websites.

In Asia, 28 per cent of accommodations said their own websites garner them the most reservations, followed by 24 per cent for OTAs and 13 per cent for their own mobile apps.

TripAdvisor noted that accommodations were not meeting the expectations of travellers, with 79 per cent of Asian travellers wanting properties to allow them to book via a mobile device. However, just 29 per cent of Asian properties currently engage with guests via mobile devices. Of those that do, 67 per cent allow guests to book rooms on mobile devices, 39 per cent have a mobile-friendly website and 25 per cent have special offers for mobile device users.

THE Asia-Pacific region will drive demand for larger and more eco-efficient aircraft over the next 20 years, accounting for 35 per cent of new airline deliveries globally or approximately 9,870 aircraft totalling US$1.6 trillion.

But in terms of value, the region will make up 40 per cent of the global market for new planes, due to the higher proportion of widebody aircraft required by Asia-Pacific airlines.

These predictions were made by aircraft manufacturer Airbus and derived from the company’s Global Market Forecast. The report estimates that in two decades’ time, the region will need capacity for 28,200 passengers as well as freighter aircraft valued at nearly US$4.0 trillion.

In the passenger market, the number of aircraft operated by Asia-Pacific carriers is expected to more than double from 4,300 today to 10,440, based on above average annual traffic growth of 5.8 per cent and replacement of 3,500 planes today.

Airbus predicts that traffic will remain concentrated around a growing number of major cities, which would call for 3,840 widebody aircraft accounting for 44 per cent of worldwide demand in the larger aircraft categories, to meet travel needs.

Meanwhile, Airbus also foresees the number of single aisle aircraft accelerating in future, driven by ongoing growth in the low-cost sector that has expanded at seven per cent annually in the last decade. Growth and replacement will spawn demand for 6,030 new single aisle aircraft.

“The Asia-Pacific market is where the action will be in the air transport market over the next 20 years,” said John Leahy, COO, customers, Airbus.

“Growing economies, bigger cities and increasing wealth will see more people flying, driving the need for larger and more efficient aircraft.”

Asia-Pacific currently accounts for 31 per cent of all Airbus orders recorded to date.