International visitor arrivals in Asia Pacific are tipped to grow by 6.7% this year to total more than 670m, according to the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

Estimates released today position travel retail’s most lucrative region to bolster its inbound numbers by around 42m year-on-year.

PATA’s executive summary says 40 destinations within Asia Pacific will exceed a collective growth rate of +5% per annum, with the region forecast to handle approximately 808m foreign visitor arrivals by 2022.

Asia itself will contribute average arrival growth of 5.6%, while the Americas and Asia Pacific will follow with growth of 3.6% and 4.3% per annum, respectively.

ASIA’S SHARE WILL GROW…

PATA adds that the share of foreign arrivals into Asia is expected to increase to almost 75% by the end of 2022.

Meanwhile, the Americas and Asia Pacific’s respective shares will contract slightly from 22.9% to 21.3% for the former and from 4.1% to 3.8% for the latter, despite increases in foreign arrivals.

Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA said: “The numbers themselves once again remain bullish for Asia Pacific over the next five years. This does not however mean that we can relax on any commitment to delivering a continually improving service to these visitors.

“Competition – both within Asia Pacific and external to it – remains fierce, and the distribution of these visitor numbers will depend very much on the delivery of a first-class experience.

“We must remember that ultimately we are in the business of delivering positive experiences and the fond memories that go hand-in-hand with them. That in turn requires a service ethic and mind-set that is above all others and which caters to the very different needs of an increasingly diverse range of visitors.”