2025 has been a great rebound year for tourism in Asia-Pacific with volumes at or above 2019 (pre-pandemic).

2026 is expected to be the first post-recovery year with numbers going back to “normal” growth.

Hong Kong has welcomed almost 50 million visitors with around 75% coming from Mainland China. Non-Mainland Chinese visitors registered a higher increase at 15.3% versus 11.1% for Mainland Chinese visitors, indicating a recovery of the international tourism market for Hong Kong.

Moreover, it was reported that the government is allocating HK$1.66 billion to the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s budget in 2026 and is expected to scale up Hong Kong’s flagship events and promotions.

Japan has reached a historical high in visitor arrivals in 2025 with almost 40 million boosted by the favorable exchange rates and World Expo taking place in Osaka from April to October. Japan is expected to continue to wrestle with the challenges of overtourism in 2026 and beyond.

The government has implemented a mix of policies and regulations, such as international departure tax increase and reduced the dependence on a key feeder market such as China.

Korea‘s visitor arrivals rebounded from the pandemic with around 19 million visitor arrivals in 2025, which is a 15.7% increase from 2024. Likely causes include the weakened Won and easing of visa requirements for more countries. The government is targeting an ambitious goal of 30 million visitors in 2026.

Singapore received 16.9 million visitors in 2025 representing a 2.3% increase over 2024. It is noted that the visitor arrivals from regional markets such as Vietnam and Philippines declined which may be related to a higher price sensitivity as Singapore returned to “pre-pandemic norm” and hotel rates keep increasing.

An advisory firm founded by Dan Voellm, MRICS in 2011 in Hong Kong has seen the opening of additional offices in Bangkok and Shenzhen. AP Hospitality Advisors serves owners, investors, developers, operators and lenders of hospitality assets across Asia-Pacific. The team blends expertise in operations, real estate and finance to support any critical step in the asset life-cycle.

www.ap-ha.com