Emerging border reopening mechanisms across Asia-Pacific have helped to improve travel confidence, with enquiries for business travel and tradeshow attendance surfacing again in recent weeks.
At an IT&CM Asia Knowledge Session, titled Next 6 Months’ Travel Outlook for Asia-Pacific, speaker James Ellis, director of sales, Asia with FCM, said the region’s conservative approach to Covid-19 containment was finally giving way to some “positive steps in the right direction”.
Singapore’s Vaccinated Travel Lane with Germany has inspired some Singapore-based clients to plan meetings in Germany, where they would convene with partners from across Europe.
Ellis’ confidence in business travel recovery is also buoyed by Hong Kong’s new Come2hk quarantine-free scheme for residents of mainland China and Macau, as well as Australia’s decision to reopen to vaccinated travellers.
Fellow speaker Kenny Yong, founder & group CEO, Fireworks Trade Media Group, revealed that the last two weeks brought “a surge in demand for face-to-face events because I think everyone is seeing a clearer light at the end of the tunnel”.
Demand to participate in Fireworks’ tradeshows next June in Malaysia is the strongest, he said.
In tracking passenger profiles for Asia-Pacific inbound and outbound travel between October 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, Jameson Wong, vice president, strategic client & partnerships, APAC, ForwardKeys, noted that international business and group travel volumes are still down against 2019, although Asia-Pacific business departures are rising strongly against pre-pandemic times. Business departures from the region stood at 6.2 per cent in 2019 and 10 per cent now.
However, Ellis and Yong admit that travel confidence will continue to sway easily with ongoing travel uncertainties arising from snap decisions on border restrictions and new infection surges.
Interest among Asian exhibitors in fresh, faraway markets has also declined, observed Yong, who said that perceived safer destinations such as Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia are favoured now by businesses eager to resume tradeshows next year.
