Asia-Pacific Hailed As The Fastest Growing Tourism Market With 535 Million Tourist Arrivals In 2030

MELAKA, 21 OCT 2013 – The Asia-Pacific Region will be the fastest growing market in terms of inbound and outbound tourism with arrivals projected to increase significantly by 330 million within two decades from 204 million in 2010 to 535 million arrivals in 2030, said the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in his keynote address during the opening of the World Tourism Conference (WTC) 2013 here.

“The outlook for tourism is certainly very bright. My sense of optimism is based mainly on the key trends of a growing world population from 7.1 billion in 2012 to 8.3 billion in 2030 with rising income and a better quality of life. Consequently, there will be a greater wealth effect that will result in an increasingly higher demand for travel worldwide, “ he said.

The World Tourism Conference 2013 themed, Global Tourism: Game Changers and Pace Setters is organised by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia together with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the State Government of Melaka from 21 to 23 October 2013. Malaysia is hosting the conference for the third time.

Participants from several countries include Tourism Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Heads of National Tourism Organisations, senior officials and professionals from airlines, hospitality and travel trade as well as prominent academicians.

The main thrust of the conference is to deliberate on global tourism planning, development and marketing as well as sharing successful strategies of leading destinations and organisations in the global tourism industry which can be adopted and adapted to generate increased income and accelerated growth of the industry.

“This positive scenario is supported by the UNWTO’s study, Tourism Towards 2030 – Global Overview, which projected an average annual growth of international tourist arrivals of 3.3% for the period 2010 to 2030. This represents an expansion in market size of 900 million international tourists,” continued Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The Deputy Prime Minister also pointed out that globally the international tourist arrivals grew at a faster rate during the first half of 2013 at 5% compared to the projected growth rate of 3% to 4% for 2013, which showed that the tourism industry had exceeded expectations and would continue to be robust and strong.

“In the case of Malaysia, one pivotal game changer is the role of the Government to target and advance tourism as a priority sector through the Malaysia Tourism Transformation Plan (MTTP) under the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP). The theme, Global Tourism: Game Changers and Pace Setters, is certainly appropriate, relevant and timely as nations move forward to tap the full potential of the tourism industry,” he elaborated.

During his address, Tan Sri Muhyiddin took the opportunity to share with participants the vital role and commitment of the Government towards tourism as a key driver to the national economy, development of innovative products, VMY success stories and mega events as among the game changers in Malaysia’s tourism industry.

Several prominent local, regional and international professionals and tourism practitioners will deliberate on key areas centred on:

• Beyond Mass Tourism: how destinations can prosper with higher yield markets by capitalising on niche products priced correctly and targeted to the right markets.

• Innovative Marketing: importance of creating innovative products and a strong brand identity to ensure dynamism and continuous progress.

• Tourism Product Development: exploring potential of tourism products such as homestay and its variants, domestic tourism, youth and Gen Y travellers, synergies between conservation and commercial viability.

Among the topics that will be presented and discussed at the conference include “Prospering with Higher Yield Market”, “Tourism Business Beyond Profits”, “Targeting for Less to Get More”, “Korea, Surfing on the Hallyu Wave”, “New Approaches in Technology”, “Scaling Up the Benefits of Homestay and Its Variants”, “Unlocking the Potential of Domestic Tourism – The Overlooked Sector”, “Attracting Youths and and Gen-Y Travellers” and “Building Synergy between Conservation and Viability”.

The three-day conference will conclude with a tourism debate session entitled “Boon or Bane of the Tourism Sector” which will see the Chief Executive Officer of Air Asia X Sdn Bhd (Malaysia) Mr. Azran Osman Rani, the Advisor to the Tourism Minister of South Africa Mr. Shaun Vorster and the General Manager of Asia Cruise Association Mr. Kelvin Leong debate on the positive and negative impacts of tourism and mega events, low cost carriers and cruise tourism.

-Tourism Malaysia.