Asia Pacific: Fastest growing region as middle class expands

Andrew Staples, Editorial director of Economist Impact

A think-tank based in Singapore has identified the Asia-Pacific region as the fastest growing region due to an expanding middle class and rising household incomes.

Giving a presentation on the comprehensive overview of the global economic landscape and its implications for the tourism sector at the Pacific Asia Tourism Association (PATA) annual summit, Andrew Staples, Editorial director of Economist Impact, strongly believes that, based on analyzing the current global economic conditions and outlook, the Asia-Pacific region was the top region as an engine of growth for the world economy.

According to the executive, Macau can leverage its unique position in Asia and the Greater Bay Area to benefit from this rapid economic growth through diversifying its economy.

“Countries within the Asia Pacific region are hotter economies. These are economies that are growing above that average for the global economy in the world. And conversely, if you go to the other side of the globe to the West, those countries are not growing as fast.”

However, he also highlighted many potential economic risks that he and this think tank agree could pose a risk towards such growth.

These include current ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and in Israel, the souring of relations between China and the US, potential changes in US political leadership, and the prevalence and influence of AI, especially for the spread of misinformation, which is seen as a big risk towards these growing economies.

PATA, taking place from May 15 to May 18 at the Grand Lisboa Palace, is a membership association working to promote the responsible development of travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific region. For the summit, many industry leaders of tourism in Asia have gathered together for exchanges and for networking.

During the summit, keynote speakers and other industry leaders are discussing ongoing and future tourism trends in the Asia Pacific region.

Macao Government Tourism Office director Helena de Senna Fernandes gave an opening speech, highlighting Macau’s “visitor arrivals having recovered to 83% of 2019 levels, and Macau is now embracing a new era of leveraging its “1+4” development strategy and leisure industry to diversify its economy.”

On the sidelines of the event, Fernandes said that following the launch of the Individual Visit Scheme to eight cities in the mainland, the bureau plans to initially launch online promotion and then follow up with offline promotion activities in the latter half of the year, depending on the circumstances.

Regarding cities without direct flights to Macau, Fernandes expressed her hope to leverage the resource cooperation within the GBA. This would allow tourists to reach Macau via Guangzhou and Zhuhai, she said.

Simultaneously, the GBA will be promoted as a destination with multiple stops in one journey, in collaboration with Macau and Hengqin, to facilitate “group travel” and provide tourists with the opportunity to explore the tourism resources of Macau and Hengqin, the director added.Howard Tong