The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has released the PATA 2002 Annual Statistical Report, the most authoritative barometer for travel and tourism performance in the Asia Pacific region.

The report shows that arrivals to the Asia Pacific region held steady during most of 2002, despite continuing economic, political and social upheavals. The Americas collectively saw an 8.3 percent decline in arrivals, fuelled mainly by significant losses in traffic to the USA. Canada rallied through 2002 to see growth of around 2.4 percent.

Arrivals to Asia grew more than six percent. China (PRC) recorded almost 98 million arrivals. The special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau recorded arrivals of around 16.6 million and 11.5 million, respectively.

The Pacific region registered a modest gain during 2002. The main volume destinations of Australia, New Zealand and Guam had mixed fortunes. New Zealand was the only destination to produce significant growth for the year. Australia was generally static while Guam lost around 8.7 percent.

The report shows that from 1998 to 2002 there was a significant shift in market share. Northeast and Southeast Asia have gained international arrivals market share at the expense of the Americas.

The PATA 2002 Annual Statistical Report contains other valuable data, such as the average length of stay, visitor expenditure, currency exchange rates, average hotel room occupancy rates, national tourism organisation budgets and international air frequency and capacity.

PATA Managing Director-Strategic Intelligence Centre, Mr. John Koldowski, said: "The Annual Statistical Report is an invaluable tool for planning marketing strategies and conducting competitive analyses."