Many cutting back on long-distance trips to US, Europe, say agents
By
Lim Wei Chean
THE global financial crisis has driven Asian travellers to cut back on long-distance trips and instead embrace vacation spots close to home, industry players said yesterday during a major tourism show.
Fears of a worldwide recession, roller-coaster stock markets, and high inflation have prompted many to put off holidays to places like the United States and Europe.
Instead, travellers are heading to destinations closer to home like India or South-east Asia, said Filipino travel agent Sheena Shroff.
She made the comments at the ITB Asia trade show, which started in Suntec Singapore yesterday. Most of the visitors to the three-day event are looking to check out what is on offer in Asia.
Mr Pankaj Gupta, director of India's RHS Holidays, said his customers are mostly interested in the region because it is affordable and does not require a lot of travel time.
The regional travel bug was exactly why event organiser Messe Berlin decided to start a trade show in Singapore. Over 70 per cent of ITB's 651 exhibitors and 5,000 visitors hail from Asia. The show, which is not open to the public, is for travel agents, hotels, resorts and national tourism organisations to network, meet and do business.
Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said yesterday that an Asia-focused trade show is 'timely...with the emergence of the middle-class in China and India, as well as other source markets in the region'.
While Singapore has seen a downturn in tourism arrivals in recent months, the country can benefit from the growth in Asia-Pacific travel.
He said that 2010 will be a 'watershed year' for the industry with new projects like Resorts World at Sentosa, Marina Bay Sands, and the new Marina Bay Financial Centre coming on stream.
Singapore will also host the world's first Youth Olympic Games that year.
He said that while the next two years could be rougher than normal, Singapore should not have trouble remaking itself into an exciting destination with a slew of new attractions.
Meanwhile, the convention and business meeting industry has remained resilient in the face of the economic downturn, said Mr Aloysius Arlando, chief of the STB's meetings sector.
Last year, the sector earned a record $5 billion in tourism spending, up from the $4 billion in 2006.
The Republic hosts some 6,000 business events on average a year and, even with the downturn, it is still working hard to seek new international events.
