In a recent chat with Travel Weekly Asia, Nicholas LIm, CEO (Asia) of
The Travel Corporation, sees positive days ahead as Asian travel demand
builds back.
These are his replies below (which has been edited for brevity):
The 2023 view
The travel sector in Asia will
continue to grow, especially when we as a region had a late start in
2022 as compared to the rest of the world; specifically to our North
American and European counterparts. Looking just at our booking trends
in Q4 2022, we still observe pent up demand in Asia, with luxury and
mass affluent segments looking strong, resilient, and poised for growth
in 2023.
Southeast Asia and India markets will build on their successes and
should continue to strengthen as 2023 progresses. With markets such as
Hong Kong, Taiwan and China opening up, we expect to see an even higher
growth out of Asia as a whole although these markets may take time to
recover.
Business growth plans
All our offices here in
Asia are now integrated with an enhanced product range offering TTC’s
Tour Brands (Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Luxury Gold, Contiki,
Costsaver), Uniworld Boutique River Cruise and Custom Groups solutions
all under one roof.
We will begin to offer custom groups and charter solutions to our
agents in Southeast Asia and India while our offices in Hong Kong and
Taiwan will bring these exciting brands to our trade partners.
Our teams across the region are now fully equipped to help and
support our agents in rebuilding their business as we look to be an
all-solutions partner for both groups and FIT businesses.
On the radar
It is incredibly exciting and
refreshing to see travel picking up again and judging from our current
booking trends, I am optimistic about 2023. While we expand our
footprint across Asia, we also need to be mindful of the challenges
ahead such as geo-political tensions, sluggish economies and capacity
issues. However, I am confident that these will eventually pass, just
like how we emerge from the shadows of the pandemic – stronger and more
resilient.