Global corporate travel consulting group Advito’s recently-released Q3 Travel Price Index reveals a nuanced landscape for business travel across the Asia Pacific, characterised by significant pricing variations and a gradual return to pre-pandemic patterns in some locations.
Travel pricing across Asia was far from uniform, with certain markets demonstrating robust strength while others experienced declines.
Intercontinental airfares originating from Asia are stabilising. While there were modest increases to Europe in both business (+2% year-over-year) and economy (+1% year-over-year) classes, fares to North America saw slight declines. This moderation was partly attributed to slowing global economic activity impacting outbound travel from the continent, with a notable shift as airfares from India were decreasing.
Domestically and regionally within Asia, economy class airfares were trending downwards, largely due to a softening of demand in India and significant capacity growth in key markets like China and Japan. Conversely, domestic and regional business class airfares saw a slight increase (+1% year-over-year).
The hotel sector in Asia also reflected this varied picture. While overall hotel rates in Asia showed a modest increase (+1% year-over-year), several markets experienced strong growth in average daily rates (BAR) compared to 2024, including Japan (+5%), Thailand (+10%), Taiwan (+4%), Hong Kong (+8%), and Malaysia (+16%).
However, major markets such as China (-1%), India (-2%), Vietnam (-4%), and South Korea (-5%) were either flat or showed moderate year-over-year decreases in BAR. It is also worth noting that occupancy levels year-over-year increased in most global regions, with Asia being an exception.
In the South-West Pacific, the business travel sector held firm, yet signs of cooling were evident in economy travel and hotel rates, indicating a return to trends observed before the pandemic.
Intercontinental airfares in the South-West Pacific experienced a slight decline, signalling a move towards more stable and moderate fare changes after the significant airline network recovery seen last year. In contrast, domestic and regional airfares were on the rise (+1% for business, +6% for economy year-over-year), driven by disciplined capacity management and robust travel demand.
The hotel market in the South-West Pacific largely showed decreased average daily rates (-3% year-over-year), reflecting a gradual return to pre-pandemic levels. Most markets in Australia (-3%) and New Zealand (-6%) saw decreases in BAR, with a few exceptions.
