Cambodia’s massive 12th-century religious complex and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Angkor Wat, is renowned for its cultural significance and the crowds that gather there, especially during the famous sunrise viewing from the eponymous temple.
But with Asian travellers slow to return, more visitors from other regions, mainly Western markets, have benefited from thinner crowds at popular destinations.
Red Savannah marketing director Sarah-Lee Senton said Angkor Wat ticket sales were just 45% of pre-pandemic levels, a decline largely attributed to the absence of Chinese tourist groups.
Some Asian markets have been slow to recover from the pandemic, with some taking longer to resume travel, others suffering from weak currencies and economic instability.
These challenges have led many travelers from China, Japan and Korea, the region’s key visitors, to travel closer to home.
“Historically, the top three outbound source markets have been China, Japan and South Korea, in that order, with China slightly ahead,” said a spokesperson for DidaTravel, a B2B travel distributor based in Shenzhen, China.
DidaTravel reports that bookings from China to Japan have increased by 200% year-over-year and bookings from South Korea to Japan have increased by 65%, making Japan the number one destination. However, Japan has yet to return to normal travel patterns.
DidaTravel said, “Japan’s difficulties are different. What is holding back Japan’s recovery is its historically very low currency value, which makes it very expensive for Japanese people to travel abroad.”
While Chinese travelers are heading to cities like Tokyo for bargain shopping, China, one of the last countries to resume tourism, still only has about three-quarters of all outbound travelers in absolute terms, but that’s up significantly from last year, DidaTravel reported.
China Youth Travel Service, a destination management company based in Guangdong Province, China, sees a similar pattern, noting that while Asians are “actively resuming travel” this year, domestic travel and more regional travel are “the main traffic as economies in most areas have not yet fully recovered” and intercontinental travel is currently too expensive.
Meanwhile, many suppliers targeting English-speaking markets are seeing a boom in Asian bookings, particularly from Japan and Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.
Alexander + Roberts forecasts that Asian travel will grow 41% in 2024 compared to last year, driven primarily by bookings to Japan, Vietnam and Thailand. Bookings in 2025 are expected to increase 34% compared to 2024 bookings a year earlier.
Luxury Asia specialist Remote Lands said bookings to Japan were strong, accounting for a third of its business, in addition to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia. But while many North American travelers are flocking to Japan for the same reasons as Chinese travelers, the weaker yen doesn’t mean Japanese prices will be higher.
“Train tickets are cheaper, but everything else that has to do with luxury—hotels, cars, drivers, guides—has doubled or tripled in price,” says Catherine Heald, CEO and co-founder of Remote Lands. “So it’s not as cheap as people might expect.”
Mekong River cruises, which mainly sail through Vietnam and Cambodia, are doing well for AmaWaterways, with departures fully booked from November through April, said Rudy Schreiner, president and co-founder.
“We are seeing a very, very strong recovery,” Schreiner said of Southeast Asia routes, adding that demand has been so strong that the company has decided to build a second vessel for the Mekong, the Ama Maya, which is scheduled to enter service in 2026.
Scott Avera, president of Alexander + Roberts, said traveler habits are changing. As we emerged from the pandemic, travelers tended to book one destination and extend their stay. Now, travelers are booking multiple destinations in Asia during the same extended travel period.
“In 2025, we will see a series of packages. People will take two tours in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, and combine Japan and Korea, China and Nepal,” Avera said.
