Pacific Perspective
Pacific Perspective
Over the last two decades, tourism in the Asia-Pacific region has been impacted dramatically by social, economic, political and technological changes. Changes in Asia-Pacific
tourism create
challenges for HawaiiThe end of the Cultural Revolution in China probably had the most important social and political impact on travel in the region. It marked the beginning of China as a major tourist destination and, more recently, one of the largest sources of tourists to Asian and Pacific countries. The political handover of Hong Kong in 1997 and Macao in 1999 to China increased China's market share of international tourists. China is expected to be the largest Asia-Pacific country for air travel by 2010.
The growth in tourism in other Asian countries also accelerated, especially during the 1980s when economic growth was abundant. As standards of living increased, larger numbers of Asian consumers could afford international travel. Companies responded by developing numerous resort areas and thousands of hotel accommodations in the region. This increased demand for and supply of tourism facilities bolstered regional travel in Asia.
Resort development in Asia boomed from 1985-89 when the Japanese invested in new projects throughout the region. Despite the burst in Japan's bubble economy halting additional investment, the Japanese continued to travel and still account for the largest number of visitors to Asian and Pacific destinations. In general, visitors from Asian and Pacific countries account for almost two-thirds of the travel in the region.
Travel between Asian countries continued to grow throughout the 1990s. The Asian financial crisis in 1997 brought difficulties to many countries, but at the same time, the devaluation of their currencies made travel a bargain. For example, Thailand was one of the first countries to be impacted by the financial crisis and is now one of the most popular destinations in the region.
Advances in aircraft technology also have resulted in significant shifts in travel patterns. The introduction of the Boeing 747-400 airplane in the 1990s extended flight distances to 7,000 or 8,000 miles. This meant that one could now fly nonstop from interior U.S. cities such as Detroit and Dallas to Asian countries. In addition, airplane capacity was increased to 425 passengers, and this reduced the cost-per-passenger substantially at high load factors. It was now economical to transport large volumes of passengers over long distances without any intermediate stops from Asia to Europe or to North America.
Given the large volume of direct traffic between Asia and North America, additional flights over the Pacific tended to be nonstop flights that bypassed Pacific island destinations. New nonstop routes such as Tokyo to Las Vegas and Hong Kong to New York reflect the increased demand for nonstop flights between Asia and North America.
Thus, the last two decades have brought about substantial shifts in travel patterns to the benefit of Asian destinations. Pacific island destinations, on the other hand, have experienced declines or stagnation in visitor arrivals as the accessibility and lower costs of visiting new destinations have made traveling to Asian countries attractive to regional markets as well as both the European and North American markets.
The stagnation in visitor arrivals to Hawaii over the last decade, in part, is due to these changes in travel patterns.
Dexter J L Choy is a professor of tourism management at the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Travel Industry Management.