Full disclosure: Our new cover story has been rescheduled at least three or four times over the past 18 months. The idea was to do a story about “Asia reopening.” The trick was deciding exactly when we could make that claim.
Happily, that time has come.
From Japan to Thailand to Indonesia to Singapore and beyond, U.S. visitors are once again booking their dream trips to Asia. Last month, Japan re-entered Virtuoso’s top 10 destinations for the first time in two years. Locations in Indonesia, India, Japan and Malaysia make up four of the top 10 destinations that have increased the most in popularity on Pinterest. According to insurance provider VisitorsCoverage, Inc., a quarter of travelers are looking to visit Asia this year.
All of this demand begs the question, 'Is your agency ready for the return of Asia?'
As you will read in the story, there are a lot of reasons for this increase in travel to Asia, not the least of which is the same sort of pent-up demand we saw for Europe last summer.
“There are a lot of previously delayed trips to Japan happening now,” said David Kolner, executive vice president of Virtuoso. “People really wanted to go, and many were not canceling.”
All of this demand begs the question, “Is your agency ready for the return of Asia?”
Many times, out of sight means out of mind. But hopefully, despite the lack of travel to the continent, you have kept abreast of the latest developments and trends in Asia travel. If not, it’s a good idea to update your education as soon as possible. Whether that means checking in with your preferred supplier reps, tour operator BDMs or on-the-ground destination management companies, clients will be looking to you for expertise and guidance in what will surely be a busy and hectic summer.
So, take it from us, now is the time to (finally) celebrate Asia’s reopening.
