The Top ‘Must Visit’ Travel Destinations in Asia Pacific

Australia has been ranked the number one ‘must visit’ destination for those living in the Asia Pacific according to a survey commissioned by Visa International.

Between 17 March and 9 April 2008, Nielsen conducted 4,556 online and door-to-door interviews on behalf of Visa with people aged 18 years and above from nine countries and territories (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and India) in an effort to measure their travel intentions in the future. For each market, quotas were set by key demographic variables to ensure the sample was representative of the general population.

The survey which asked people to share their top five ‘must-visit’ travel destinations in the region found that 63% of respondents said Australia was the place they most wanted to see. This was followed by Singapore (42%), New Zealand (41%), Japan (40%) and India (27%).

Quite surprisingly, Australia ranked in the top or second place for all countries and territories surveyed, underscoring widespread regional interest in travelling to Australia. According to the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), more than 2.7 million people from the nine countries and territories surveyed visited Australia in 2007. PATA forecasts that more than three million people will visit Australia from these same countries and territories in 2010, representing an average annual growth rate of 3.4%2.

Meranda Chan, country manager, Singapore and Brunei, Visa International and PATA Board Director said, “The findings from this new survey show that the Asia Pacific region is a popular destination for people already living in the region. This is particularly good news as tourism is a critical element of almost all economies in the region as tourism spend is estimated to be $427 million a day in Asia Pacific.”

Singapore was the top ‘must see’ destination for respondents from India (76%). The island-nation was also favoured by respondents from Taiwan (29%), Korea (29%), New Zealand (25%) and Japan (23%).

As the third overall ‘must-see’ destination for Asia Pacific audiences, New Zealand was popular with Malaysians (64%), Japanese (45%) and New Zealanders (28%).

A majority of Australian respondents (59%) ranked New Zealand as their top ‘must-see’ destination, while a similar majority of New Zealanders (60%) ranked Australia as their top ‘must-see’ destination.

Japan, the fourth overall ‘must-see’ destination across all respondents, was the top choice for Hong Kong (77%), Taiwan (78%) and Singapore (64%). Sixty-two% of those surveyed in Korea listed Japan as their second ‘must-see’ destination, after Australia.

India was the fifth overall ‘must-see’ place for Asia Pacific audiences. Interestingly it was domestic tourism that proved the big draw with more than half of the Indian respondents expressing interest in exploring the tourist attractions of their own country.

“The Asia Pacific region presents a wealth of travel opportunities. This survey gives us a better picture of where people in the region want to travel to and where Visa can support regional tourism through the development of world-class payment infrastructure so travelers can pay with the convenience and peace of mind,” added Chan.

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