Asian tourism market share to reach 30 pct by 2030

According to a report jointly issued by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) and the Global Tourism Economy Research Centre (GTERC), trends have indicated that the Asia-Pacific market share of global tourism will reach 30 percent by 2030.
Globally tourism increased by 4.4 percent in 2015, compared with the previous year, reaching almost 1.14 billion visitors. The Asia-Pacific region performed above the international average, recording an increase of 5 percent, which accounted for 23 percent of the global market share (268 million). This figure is expected to reach 30 percent by 2030 (535 million).
The drive behind the rise of the Asia-Pacific region as a tourism destination has been accredited to a number of factors, including globalization, trade liberalization and a growing middle class with disposable income to spend on travel.
Macau received a special mention during a release of the report’s key points at the Global Tourism Economy Forum yesterday. The city was heralded as an “excellent” example of city tourism, as a “city with a population of 500,000 [that] caters to more than 5 times its populace in visitors.”
The report is entitled “Asian Tourism Trends,” and this is the second edition following a project agreement in September 2013 to produce the report annually.