Download 32. Tourism

Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2014
32. Tourism
The number of tourists visiting the Asia-Pacific region is increasing.
The number of tourists visiting the region has
been consistently increasing and the countries
of Asia and the Pacific now receive more
visitors than any region, other than Europe.
With the expansion of tourism, the region
captured nearly one quarter of total global
tourist arrivals in 2013.1
The number of tourists has increased in every
country (for which data are available) of Asia
and the Pacific in the 10 years from 2004 to
2013, with the exception of French Polynesia.
And there have been year-on-year increases
from 2012 to 2013 in 22 of the 27 countries for
which data are available. Over the five years to
2013, the top-five destinations for tourists in
Asia and the Pacific have been, in descending
order of visits, China (57.7 million in 2012),
Turkey (37.8 million in 2013), the Russian
Federation (30.8 million), Thailand (26.7
million) and Malaysia (25.7 million).
Inbound tourism expenditure is higher in China
than in any other country in Asia and the
Pacific, followed by Thailand and Macau,
China. Tourists spend more money per visitor
in Macau, China, than in any country in the
region other than Australia, where, in 2012,
each tourist spent on average over 26 times the
amount spent by the average tourist visiting the
Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The higher
per-visitor expenditure in Macau, China, may
be due to casino-related activities.
International tourism receipts increased from
$169 billion in 2004 to $320 billion in 2013.
Tourism is of varying importance to the
economies of Asia and the Pacific in terms of
the percentage of GDP that results from
tourism expenditure. In countries reliant on
tourism, such as the Maldives and Palau,
tourism expenditure can account for roughly
three quarters of GDP. And in Macau, China,
tourism expenditure has, since 2010, accounted
for all or nearly all of its GDP. In some Pacific
countries, the level of dependence on the
tourism sector and related services is very
significant, at around 20% of GDP.2
Tourism expenditure in Asia and the Pacific has
benefited greatly from economic development
in the region, and in particular in China. In
2012, Chinese outbound tourism expenditure
accounted for a third of all tourism expenditure
in the region, and one tenth of global tourism
expenditure.

The countries of Asia and the Pacific received 28.9% of worldwide tourist arrivals in 2012,
second behind Europe, which received 43% of worldwide tourist arrivals.

There were over 300 million tourist arrivals in the countries of Asia and the Pacific in 2012.

The most frequently visited destinations in Asia and the Pacific are China with nearly 58
million tourist arrivals in 2012, Turkey with nearly 38 million tourist arrivals in 2013, and the
Russian Federation with nearly 31 million visits in 2013.

Each tourist visiting Australia spent on average $5,600 in 2012, more than 26 times the $215
spent on average by visitors to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in 2012.

Chinese outbound tourism expenditure increased from $16.7 billion in 2003 to nearly $110
billion in 2012. This equates to a third of all outbound tourism expenditure in the region and
is a more than five-fold increase over a 10-year period. 1 2
United Nations, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific
2014 (Bangkok, 2014), p. xii.
2 Ibid, p. 23
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