‘UNWTO/GTERC Asia Tourism Trends – 2018’ shows that international tourist arrivals in Asia and the Pacific grew 6% in 2017 to reach 323 million, around a quarter of the world’s total. Of all world regions, Asia and the Pacific, the second-most visited after Europe, has grown the fastest in international tourist arrivals since 2005. Arrivals increased an average of 6% per year, above the world average of 4%.

Rapid economic growth in a region with over half the world’s population, coupled with rising air connectivity, travel facilitation and large infrastructure projects, have boosted international travel in the region. This has had a large impact on Asian destinations’ tourism earnings, which have steadily increased from 17% of the world total in 2000 to 29% in 2017. This is equivalent to US$ 390 billion in tourism receipts.

Asia and the Pacific plays a vital role as a source market as well, fuelling much growth in both regional and long-haul destinations. The region produced 335 million international travellers spending US$ 502 billion in 2017, 37% of the world total. Around 80% of these visits were concentrated in Asia destinations. Outside the region, 56% of the long-haul trips were to Europe.

EU-China Tourism Year

To celebrate the EU-China Tourism Year 2018, the report looks at international tourism between China, the largest economy in Asia, and the block of 28 European Union (EU) countries.

It finds that 5.7 million Chinese tourists travelled to Europe in 2016, of which 3.5 million went to the EU. In reverse, 5.5 million Europeans travelled to China in 2016, 3.1 million of whom from EU countries.

China’s Greater Bay Area – a major outbound area

The last chapter of ‘UNWTO/GTERC Asia Tourism Trends – 2018’ provides an insight into the Greater Bay Area of China, a project to create a large socio-economic zone and tourism area comprising the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, as well as nine cities in Guangdong Province. According to the report, the Greater Bay Area is China’s fastest-growing tourism region and the Pearl River Delta home to several cities with high tourism development including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Foshan.

With a revamped structure featuring a mentoring breakfast, discussion rounds and workshops, this year’s Global INSTO Meeting focused on offering participants opportunities for interaction. Tourism stakeholders exchanged knowledge on achievements and challenges in measuring social, environmental and economic tourism impacts at destinations. In keeping with UNWTO’s priority of promoting technological innovation that fosters sustainable tourism, attendees took part in three workshops on the potential of geo-referenced information for destination planning.

Guests saw live demonstrations of spatial analysis, brainstormed project ideas using satellite images and learned how to build data dashboards. Such advances in location intelligence can support destinations create more transparent and timely communication and decision-making. The workshops were co-led by the destinations South Tyrol (Italy), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Portugal in cooperation with private and public sector partners ESRi Spain, SEGITTUR and Vizzuality.

The 2018 Global INSTO Meeting also accepted two new observatories to the network – Panama City, Panama and South Tyrol, Italy – taking INSTO’s membership to 24. “Installing a project of this magnitude will allow us to continually measure the effects of tourism in a particular destination or region. We welcome this initiative with great enthusiasm considering the benefits that the entire tourism sector will receive in the short- and medium-term, and its positive impact on many other economic activities,” said Gustavo Him, Minister of Tourism of Panama, on joining INSTO.

“The decision to join the international observatory network brings with it the responsibility to shape South Tyrol’s development according to sustainability principles. For some years, South Tyrol has been establishing itself as a green region. We see this as another important step in that direction and recognize the value of sharing progress with other pioneer destinations,” said Arno Kompatscher, Governor of South Tyrol.

The UNWTO Conference on City Breaks: Creating Innovative Tourism Experiences (15-16 October 2018) concluded today in Valladolid, Spain, with a call for cities to become smart tourism destinations, where tourism governance and the digital economy mesh together to offer travellers diverse and authentic experiences.

The conference brought together tourism leaders from the public and private sectors to analyse how to respond to the growing trend of city breaks as leisure experiences. They concluded that public-private partnerships, the inclusion of local communities and the creation of smart destinations are crucial for urban destinations to gain the knowledge and define the policies they need in order to respond to the new demands of hyper-connected and hyper-informed tourists.

“We must understand the evolution of tourists towards greater sustainability and inclusiveness, using new technological tools,” said Jaime Cabal, Deputy Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). “Creativity and innovation are needed when designing the experiences they are increasingly demanding.”

The Councillor for Culture and Tourism of Valladolid, Ana Maria Redondo, echoed this call, adding: “We need a better understanding of the fundamentals behind the current demand for city break experiences. Smart destination tools are our means to obtain this knowledge.”

The Deputy Director-General for Tourism Development and Sustainability of the Ministry of Tourism of Spain, Ruben Lopez Pulido, suggested that cities and all destinations change their models of tourism development to respond not only the most demanding tourists, but also to the rise of the digital and knowledge economy. “Being a smart destination is not just a label, but a process towards the comprehensive transformation of destinations, while always aiming at the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.

Speakers at the conference included Dieter Hardt-Stremayr, President of European Cities Marketing and CEO of the Graz Tourism Office in Austria, who described what he considered key challenges for the growth of city breaks: transportation issues, seasonality, and the dispersion of tourism demand within a city and over time. “Our main challenge is to attract visitors to come right at this moment. To overcome it destination managers should focus on parts of the tourism offer that are ‘temporary’,” he concluded.

The main conclusions of the conference referred to urban tourism governance models. Participants highlighted that, with the growth of high-speed, low-cost transportation links that provide more and more visitors with access to city breaks, city destinations must respond by prioritizing investments that benefit residents and tourists alike.

They also concluded that with the technological advances that allow the creation of smart destinations, destination management organizations must shift their focus from only promoting the experiences available for tourists in cities, to managing urban tourism in all its complexity. For their part, tourism policy makers should use smart destination tools to study the impact of tourism on the profitability and sustainability of a city, and place the destination at the centre of policy changes. These conclusions will be taken into account in the UNWTO work plan on urban tourism.

The Conference was organized by the UNWTO in collaboration with the City Council of Valladolid and the marketing agency MADISON, an Affiliate Member of the UNWTO. Other speakers included representatives from Madrid Destino, San Sebastián Turismo & Convention Bureau, Ljubljana Tourist Board, Turin Convention Bureau, Lisbon Tourism Observatory, Municipality of Alba lulia (Romania), Google, TripAdvisor, Basque Culinary Center, World Heritage Cities of Spain, AMFHORT, European Historical Association of Thermal Cities, Innova Tax Free, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Thinking Heads, Segittur, Civitatis, Authenticitys and Amadeus, as well as journalists Xavier Canalis of Hosteltur and Paco Nadal of El Viajero (El País newspaper).

According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)’s latest barometer, international tourist arrivals grew 6% in the first six months of 2018 after a record year of growth in 2017.

All world regions enjoyed robust growth in tourist arrivals in January-June 2018. The increase was fuelled by strong demand from major source markets, supported by an upswing in the global economy. It comes after record year-round growth of 7% in 2017.

“Today’s release of international tourism data for the first half of 2018 serves as further proof of the sector’s resilience and relentless growth trajectory. We continue to work with our many partners to translate this growth into better jobs, more benefits to societies, and more opportunities for sustainable livelihoods and destinations”, said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili.

By region, Europe and Asia and the Pacific led growth with a 7% increase in arrivals each. Southern Mediterranean Europe and South-East Asia had the strongest results in these regions, both welcoming 9% more international tourists.

The Middle East and Africa also recorded sound results with arrivals growing at 5% and 4%, respectively, according to still-limited information available for destinations in these regions. The Americas saw 3% growth in arrivals over the six-month period, driven by South America (+7%) and North America (+5%). The United States continued to fuel much growth in the region and beyond.

On the demand side, France, the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation all reported double-digit increases in outbound spending in Europe. India and the Republic of Korea drove growth in Asia and the Pacific, while the world’s top source market China reported similar spending as in the same period last year.

Looking ahead

The first half of the year accounts for about 45% of annual international tourist arrivals. The second half represents 55% as it is three days longer and includes the Northern Hemisphere high-season months of July and August.

Against a strong first semester, growth prospects for the remainder of 2018 remain positive overall, though at a slower pace, according to the latest UNWTO Confidence Index survey. The Index value for May-August and expectations for September-December are somewhat lower than the Index value for January-April.

Seeking to advance use of innovation and cutting-edge technologies into cultural tourism practices, destinations and products, the International Seminar on Harnessing Cultural Tourism through Innovation and Technology will be held in Hamedan, Iran alongside the 40th UNWTO Affiliate Members Plenary Session (12-14 November 2018).

The seminar recognizes the significance of innovation in managing and promoting cultural tourism, which is one of the largest global tourism markets, and the opportunities of integrating innovative governance into the management of cultural tourism destinations. Through disrupting the sector and creating opportunities for improving governance, competitiveness and cultural resource preservation, innovation and technology are instrumental in enhancing cultural tourism development.

The seminar will feature three panels, exploring how big data, innovative business models, digital services and marketing, and other new technology can ensure long-term sustainability, profitability and competitiveness for cultural tourism products while preserving their authenticity. The keynote panel will explore how innovation and technology generate new opportunities for, and motivate new players to enter, the cultural tourism sector.

An estimated 4 out of 10 tourists choose their destination based on its cultural offering. The conference will explore how this choice is increasingly motivated by intangible factors such as a place’s culture, history, traditions and atmosphere, or its association with famous people, ideas or events.

Host city Hamedan, historically home to Iran’s famous scientists and poets, is nowadays known for its rich heritage of handicrafts, namely pottery design. The small town of Lalejin in Hamedan Province was designated the World Pottery Capital by the World Crafts Council on July 2016. Nearby Alisadr, the world’s largest water cave, is another renowned tourist attraction.

The seminar, which also spans the UNWTO Affiliate Members’ 40th plenary, is jointly organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Iran Cultural Heritage, Handcraft and Tourism Organization, and Alisadr Tourism Company.