The Pacific-Asia Travel Association (PATA) released it’s numbers for 2012 recently and the results are sure to please the most jaded of hoteliers and travel operators. The region attracted over 350 million international visitors in 2012, a 5% increase (18 million additional travelers) from the year 2011.
According to data from the PATA report, Southeast Asia saw the biggest gains in the region, with a 9.9% increase in numbers from 2011. In total, about 89 million people paid a visit to Southeast Asia last year. Less visited countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos saw massive gains in popularity.
As reported in the Diplomat, Chinese tourists are accounting for an ever larger share of the overall tourist market in Southeast Asia, now supplying as many tourists every year as the crucial European market.
The rise of the Chinese tourist could prove quite lucrative for Thailand in the upcoming year. The unprecedented success of quirky box office hit Lost in Thailand among mainland Chinese is expected to greatly boost their interest in paying a visit to the Kingdom.
