Australia is playing a key role in the tourism recovery of the Asia Pacific region, according to new figures from travel analyst ForwardKeys delivered at the WTTC Global Summit this week.
Introduced by Director of Intelligence and Marketing Oliver Ponti, the report noted that increased local air connectivity had led to surges in visitation from key markets such as the United States, with American family bookings to Australia growing by 43% alone compared to last year.
The recovery is also predicted to continue, with the Oceania region expected to enjoy a 10% upswing by the end of the year, with arrivals to New Zealand and Australia listed as key drivers.
Another major factor in Australia’s recovery is the falling price of airfares, and while tickets are still more expensive than they were in 2019, ForwardKeys’ data shows prices have been falling over the last 12 months.
In 2022, the price of air tickets to Australia was 55% higher than they were pre-pandemic, however with greater air capacity that figure dropped to +37% last year and +26% for the period between Jan and Aug this year.
“While air prices are still high and are hampering the overall recovery, as you can see from the figures, the situation is improving and hopefully with more and more air connectivity, it will boost the overall numbers for the destination,” Ponti said.
Globally, the tourism economy continues to make solid strides in its recovery, with international arrivals up 16% between Jan
and Aug compared to the same period last year.
