ASIA. Abacus, Asia Pacific’s leading travel facilitator, says that the backbone of the Asian travel industry, intra-Asia travel, is recovering fast.
At the peak of the recent SARS crisis, total travel bookings for the week 11-17 May hovered at 400,000, but this figure had doubled by the week 7-11 July, which posted 800,000 total bookings, an +18% increase year-on-year.
“Clearly, not only are we witnessing an ongoing recovery, but also a surge of travellers to Asia and beyond,” said Abacus president and ceo Don Birch.
Intra-Asia travel is returning fast, posting a +50% increase in bookings from the week 16-22 March to week 7-11 July. Birch attributed the increase to improved passenger confidence and competitive airfares.
Travel from Asia to the South Pacific also experienced a +50% increase in bookings from week 11-17 May to week 7-11 July.
Asia to US and Asia to Europe travel did experience a slight drop in bookings, with travel to US falling by -29.4% to 12,000 bookings in week 7-22 July from week 11-17 May.
“Asia to US and Asia to Europe are experiencing a bit of a right-sizing with regard to bookings,” said Birch. “While now at pre-SARS booking levels, they are not experiencing the sharp increases of markets hit hardest by SARS.
While business and regional travel return to normal, domestic travel to markets including India, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia was the strength of the travel industry during the SARS crisis. 23% of all Abacus bookings involving India represented domestic travellers, and domestic travel in Indonesia remains steady. Inter-Indonesia bookings are +279% up on last year’s figures. Travel to Indonesia will be badly hit by this morning’s bombing in Jakarta.
According to Birch, Abacus bookings are currently up +10-20% year-on-year.
“The second half of 2003 provides us with an excellent opportunity to get the industry back to full strength. While bookings are back to or above pre-SARS levels, some trips never get rescheduled, so there is still a long way to go before the SARS crisis can be declared as fully over,” said Birch.
“You’re going to hear more in the coming months about low-fare regional airlines, ongoing migration to e-ticketing and a return to emerging markets. Prior to SARS, China and Vietnam were the destinations in Asia garnering the biggest buzz. You are already hearing that buzz again,” concluded Birch.
