Travel in the Asia Pacific Begins to Recover, Residents of This Country are the Most Healing Abroad

Dream - With the uncertain global economy and the recent pandemic that has hit the world, the cost of living for most people has increased. Signs of recovery are beginning to emerge, especially in the Asia Pacific region, which has experienced significant growth in international travel and consumer spending.

This was revealed in a report by the Mastercard Economics Institute entitled "Shifting Wallets", which noted that Singapore shows the highest demand in the Asia Pacific for international travel. Consumer flight bookings in this region as of June 2022 were 10 percent higher than 2019 levels.

A similar situation occurred in Australia, where long-haul flight bookings increased by 92 percent in August 2022 compared to August 2019, and short-haul flight bookings increased by 155 percent.

Not only that, consumer spending in ASEAN has recovered in major categories such as retail, travel, and entertainment, with spending increasing 1.5 times from before the pandemic as of June this year.

"Consumers in the Asia Pacific want to make up for lost time after several challenging years," said David Mann, Chief Economist of Mastercard AP & MEA, in his statement, quoted on Thursday, November 3, 2022.

Expenditure on this travel also exceeds expenditure on purchases of goods, with expenditure on restaurants increasing by 16 percent in August 2022 from January 2022 levels, while food shopping decreased by 5 percent. 

Consumers in the Asia Pacific prefer to order from restaurants, either directly or online, rather than cooking at home.

"The increasing demand to be able to visit new places and experience new things greatly affects consumer spending. With priorities on vacations, dining, entertainment, and immersive experiences, we hope the travel and entertainment sectors will continue to recover," David continued.

David sees the abundance of online bookings as a new opportunity for online businesses.

"As online shopping and remote work continue to influence our daily habits, consumers will adapt and readjust their spending preferences to align with our changing lifestyles," he said.

In Singapore, small online businesses such as tutoring, healthcare, and personal care services have increased more than 3.5 times compared to 2019. 

However, the gap between large-scale online businesses and small-scale businesses is evident in the retail sector in more advanced countries. 

With e-commerce sales for large businesses in Singapore growing by 200 percent, while small online retail businesses grew by 59 percent in August 2022 compared to 2019. 

Similarly, in Australia, large businesses grew by 93 percent, while small online businesses grew by 24 percent.