According to the latest forecast from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), destinations in Asia Pacific will achieve an average annual growth rate of 5-6% between 2015 and 2019. By the end of this period, the region is expected to welcome 670 million visitors per year.

By contrast, the UNWTO forecasts a global growth rate of approximately 4% between now and the end of the decade.

And according to PATA’s CEO, Mario Hardy, the Asian countries within the Asia Pacific region will lead the growth.

“Thirty-eight destinations in the period 2015 to 2019 will see more than 158m additional international visitor arrivals,” said Hardy. “Asia as a destination region will grow faster at between 6-7% over that period and receive in excess of half a billion foreign visitors by the end of the forecast period.” And Asia will not only benefit from this increased arrivals, but also will become a major generator of that demand both within the Asia region and beyond, according to PATA.

“These forecasts provide a valuable quantification of the expected future trends of travel demand for the Asia Pacific and allow for risk assessments to be made well ahead of the curve,” said Hardy.“With past forecasts coming to within 2% of actual performance at the Asia Pacific level, we believe that they provide a valid and accurate tool for today’s marketers, planners and strategists as they face the volatile challenges in today’s global tourism marketplace,” he added.