Despite numerous reports of a cooling Chinese economy, the weakening of the Yen and political tensions in Hong Kong and Thailand (to name but two), nearly half of all the respondents to the TRBusiness Annual Survey, believe Asia to be the most important region for global travel retail in 2015.

 

 

The TRBusiness 2015 Annual Survey, which will be published in the January issue of TRBusiness magazine, revealed that 46.7% of respondents thought Asia to be of greatest importance,
followed by Europe with around 18% [NB: some respondents selected more than one region that was of greatest importance].

 

To view last year’s survey results click here. 

 

One respondent said: “The new US-China visa policy is good news for the market and we believe Chinese tourists will visit the US in increasing numbers in 2015. We are also very optimistic about emerging tourist destinations in Southeast Asia as well as the popular European cities.”

 

The industry was less enthusiastic about its performance in 2014 with only 49% believing it to be a good year compared to 51.6% in 2013. The comments and data received by TRBusiness suggest that all stakeholders are approaching 2015 with a little trepidation; 49.35% of respondents believe that 2015 will be better than 2014. Last year 61.96% believed 2014 would be better than 2013.

 

Anxiety stems from challenges posed by the conflict in Russia which has impacted the Rouble, further outbreaks of Ebola, as well as growing competition from the Internet.

 

One respondent said: “Geo-political tensions and also other factors, such as Ebola, have impacted the business. The political situation in the Ukraine is an issue and the devaluation of the Russian Rouble and the Turkish Lira. These, plus other emerging market currencies, not only impacted the respective countries, but also heavily influenced activities worldwide.”

 

The TRBusiness Annual Survey will be published in the January issue of TRBusiness Magazine.