PATA publishes comparative listing of Asia Pacific destination performance for third quarter 2005

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has published its comprehensive and comparative listing of Asia Pacific destination performance for third quarter 2005.

The report shows which destinations attracted the most increases in international visitor arrivals, and from which source markets.

The top five origin-destination growth performances (%) for third quarter 2005 compared to third quarter 2004, (where passenger traffic was 25,000 or more) were:

- Indonesia to Chinese Taipei (+181.9%)
- China (PRC) to the Philippines (+161%)
- Spain to China (PRC) (+115.9%)
- Korea (ROK) to Cambodia (+95.1%)
- Korea (ROK) to Malaysia (+73.5%)

In purely volume terms, the top five origin-destination pairs with the greatest numeric gains were:

- USA to Canada (+1,079,000)
- Hong Kong SAR to China (+1,049,000)
- Macau SAR to China (+950,000)
- Canada to USA (+411,000)
- Russia to China (PRC) (+181,000)

The top five destination winners for the quarter, in terms of arrivals growth (%) from all markets, compared to third quarter 2004, were:

- Vanuatu (+50.9%) 
- Cambodia (+41.7%) 
- Lao PDR (+23.8%)
- Nepal (+23.8%)
- Macau SAR (+19.1%)

In total, 16 of the 37 Asia Pacific destinations reporting on third quarter figures enjoyed double-digit arrivals growth for the period.

Only two destinations registered double-digit losses: the Maldives (-25.6%) and Tonga (-21.5%). The Maldives continued to suffer in the aftermath of the December 26, 2004 Tsunami.

The 37 Asia Pacific destinations included in the report collectively gained +9.1% over third quarter 2004. This increase was equivalent to 6.6 million additional international arrivals.

Within Asia Pacific, each sub-region attracted more international visitor arrivals: the Americas (+10.9%); South Asia (+3.8%); Northeast Asia (+8.8%); Southeast Asia (+6.7%); and the Pacific (+6.4%).

PATA Director-Strategic Intelligence Centre Mr John Koldowski said, "Asia Pacific is generally doing well with particularly strong increases from markets such as Spain, Korea, and Russia. While growth has come from all sources, the intra-regional routes within Asia continue to outperform the others. In North America, Canadians and Americans are visiting each other again."

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