ITB Asia 2019 is in the spotlight for many of the largest tourism industry actors, which is why this is the time to focus on Southeast Asia, a region that exhibits a vast travel industry that is as dynamic as it is expansive, attracting millions of visitors every year. So now that summer is over, we ask ourselves: Which destination was most popular in 2019? What months did people travel? How long did they stay?
To find the answers to these questions, the analysis tool for tourism data Insights-X from TravelgateX offers concrete and detailed information on the demand and supply in the sector on our B2B-platform. We have compiled the information under the heading Southeast Asia Travel Insights by TravelgateX together with a snapshot of tourism in Southeast Asia in 2019.
The most-booked countries
Bookings for Southeast Asia continue to grow steadily on the TravelgateX platform, creating a very positive state of health for the sector and predicting a very optimistic future: traveller demand for these areas kept growing throughout the year 2019.
The way the tourism market behaves in Southeast Asia also reveals that, once again, there is one country that stands out among the rest. That country is Thailand, the destination of choice for 47% of reservations made in the region during 2019. It is closely followed by Indonesia (18%), showing the fastest growth this season, leaving Myanmar (12% of the 2019 reservations), Singapore (9%) and the Philippines (8%) behind.
Bookings for Southeast Asia continue to grow steadily on the TravelgateX platform, creating a very positive growth environment for this sector and in turn a very optimistic prediction for future development: traveller demand for these areas increased throughout the year 2019.
The way the tourism market behaves in Southeast Asia also reveals that, once again, there is one country that stands out among the rest. That country is Thailand, destination of choice for 47% of reservations made in the region during 2019. It is closely followed by Indonesia (18%), showing the fastest growth this season, leaving Myanmar (12% of the 2019 reservations), Singapore (9%) and the Philippines (8%) behind.
The most-reserved cities
If we adjust the microscope offered by Insights-X and look at the tourism landscape in a smaller scale, we see that the cities that were most in demand during 2019 among travellers in the entire region are Bangkok (Thailand) and Bali (Indonesia), Penang (Myanmar), Singapore and Western Visayas.
The months with the most travellers
According to information recorded on the TravelgateX B2B-platform, July and August are the months with the highest density of travellers in this region. When it comes to the price per room/night, December, January and February are the most expensive months to travel to Southeast Asia.
Average stay
The information is also optimistic when it comes to the average stay of travellers with reservations in Southeast Asia this year, with an average stay of 3.02 nights. The figures that Insight-X offers us also clearly show that even if December is one of the months with fewer reservations made by travellers, it is the month with the longest average stay per tourist (3.89 nights) and the most expensive per room and nights (135.8 €). By nationality, the British are the travellers that on average booked the longest stays in the Southeast Asia region during 2019 with an average stay of 4.88 nights, while the Spanish had an average stay of 2.9 nights.
Advance bookings
Another piece of data highlighted in the report is that only 4% of the reservations were Last Minute. The average number of travellers prefer to book two months in advance and 26% book at least three months before they go travelling.
The British booked their trips to Southeast Asia the most in advance during 2019 (on average 115 days) and the Spanish are the second most forward-thinking with an average of nearly three months (71 days). By contrast, the Chinese normally make their reservations a little less than one month in advance.