Travel is back and so is Asia – was the resounding sentiment at WiT Singapore 2022, which gathered more than 400 delegates from close to 30 countries in the first physical reunion of the online travel industry in Asia Pacific in three years.
With the theme of “Hello, New World”, the more than 80 speakers assembled talked about new trends that will shape traveller behaviour and how the industry needs to innovate and respond to those changes.
Here’s a quick summary of the key takeaways.
1/ The future is Asian
The world’s population is set to reach 8 billion next month and the bulk of the growth will be in Asia. The rising middle class in markets like India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam will continue to drive growth.
2/ Travel in Asia is back – two halves of the same coin
Asia was “first in, first out” and has largely been two worlds this year – South-east Asia where travel has rebounded and North Asia, just now reopening – other than China.
These two worlds are pretty apparent from these charts tracking recovery rate for international airports in APAC. (Source: Sobie Aviation)
In summary
- All airports in Greater China have dropped out of the APAC top rankings entirely (there were four in the top 10 pre-pandemic)
- South Asia now has 3 airports in the top 10 (Delhi, Mumbai and Dhaka) compared to zero pre-pandemic
- Manila and Sydney are also now in the top 10
- Singapore is now number one by a wide margin, rising from the third spot pre-pandemic
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