WTTC: ASEAN to see one in ten tourism investment dollars by 2026
One in ten of all tourism investment dollars will go into ASEAN countries over the next ten years, according to new research by the World Travel & Tourism Council.
According to the research, Travel & Tourism Investment in ASEAN, over the years 2016 – 2026, 9.7 per cent (nearly one in ten dollars) of global investment in tourism will be in ASEAN.
Travel investment in ASEAN over the next decade will total US$782 billion, which is 7.4 per cent of all investment in the region.
This represents growth of 6.3 per cent per year, nearly two percentage points faster than the global average.
Investment spending will be dominated (95 per cent) by five major destinations - Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia - which together account for over 80 per cent of ASEAN’s international arrivals and tourism contribution to GDP.
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However given the strong demand for travel to this region, some countries are still at risk of not investing enough to ensure infrastructure meets the needs of forecast tourism growth.
The report highlights the investment needed in ASEAN in order to support the region’s forecast tourism growth over the next decade.
ASEAN is one of the world’s most tourism dependent regions.
Travel contributes 12.4 per cent of GDP, nearly four per cent above most other world regions.
However, according to the report, ASEAN tourism infrastructure currently only ranks ahead of Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.
As such the outlook across the ten constituent countries of ASEAN is mixed.
David Scowsill, WTTC president, said: “Our research shows that investment in infrastructure is critical to the future sustainability of tourism.
“As one of the fastest growing tourism markets, public and private sector leaders across ASEAN must prioritise tourism investment and channel it effectively to ensure the region’s infrastructure can meet this increasing demand.
“Countries such as Singapore and Indonesia are leading the way in terms of their infrastructure development but across ASEAN there is much more which is required.
“For some countries this might mean expanding capacity, through increasing visitor accommodation, airport capacity and tourist facilities while others need to maintain and enhance their current infrastructure.”