PATA forecasts strong visitor growth in Asia-Pacific through 2027
PATA has released the latest Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts for 2025-2027, providing in-depth insights into tourism recovery trends across the region.This comprehensive report, prepared in collaboration with the Hospitality and Tourism Research Centre of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, presents forecasts for 39 destinations in the Asia-Pacific region across mild, medium, and severe scenarios, offering critical insights for stakeholders in the travel and tourism industry.
The PATA Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2025-2027 highlights international visitor arrivals (IVAs) are expected to reach 813.7 million by 2027, up from 648.1 million in 2024, indicating steady growth. Recovery is being fuelled by easier visa processes, more airline routes, and improved infrastructure. Initiatives like China’s visa-free transit expansion and Thailand’s Six Countries, One Destination project are helping boost visitor numbers.
China is set to regain its spot as the top inbound destination, with the US, Türkiye, and Hong Kong also performing well. Mongolia, Türkiye, Sri Lanka, and Japan are expected to see the fastest recovery, surpassing pre-pandemic visitor numbers. China will remain the largest source market, followed by the US, Hong Kong, South Korea, and India, with growing middle classes in India and South-east Asia driving more outbound travel.
The region’s tourism will also be shaped by economic shifts, geopolitics, and technological advancements, with digital transformation, sustainable tourism, and new infrastructure enhancing the travel experience.
As global travel continues its strong recovery, the Asia-Pacific region remains a key driver of growth. This latest forecast highlights the dynamic shifts in visitor flows, policy interventions, and infrastructure improvements that will shape the region’s tourism landscape over the next three years. By understanding these evolving trends, destinations can better position themselves for sustainable growth and resilience. As we move forward, the industry must remain agile and adaptive to shifting market dynamics. The insights from the PATA Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2025-2027 will be invaluable for policymakers, businesses, and destination marketers aiming to capitalise on emerging opportunities. PATA CEO Noor Ahmad Hamid.
About PATA
Founded in 1951, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for-profit membership association that acts as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region. The Association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research, and innovative events to its member organisations, which include government, state and city tourism bodies; international airlines and airports; hospitality organisations, educational institutions, and thousands of young tourism professional (YTP) members across the world. The PATA network also embraces grassroots activism of PATA Chapters and Student Chapters, which organise travel industry training programmes and business development events around the world. Thousands of travel professionals belong to 32 local PATA Chapters worldwide. Hundreds of students are members of 28 PATA Student Chapters globally. The PATAmPOWER platform delivers unrivalled data, forecasts, and insights from the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre to members' desktops and mobile devices around the world. PATA's Head Office has been in Bangkok since 1998. The Association also has an office in Beijing. Visit www.PATA.org.
Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)
www.pata.org
Unit B1, 28th Floor, Siam Tower - 989 Rama I Road, Pathumwan
Bangkok, 10330
Thailand
Phone: (66-2) 658-2000
Fax: (66-2) 658-2010
Email: communications@pata.org
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