Asian travel bookings OK despite tsunami

Asian travel bookings OK despite tsunami

Agence France-Presse, Singapore

Travel bookings in Asia made a strong start to 2005 despite
the tsunami disaster, a leading regional tourism agency said on
Monday as it reported an annual growth rate of 15 percent for
January.

Abacus International said bookings on its system reached 3.25
million in January, driven by strong demand from North Asia,
although travel to tsunami-affected nations Thailand and Sri
Lanka slumped heavily.

"After a stellar performance last year, this is a good, solid
start to 2005," Abacus president and chief executive Don Birch
said in a statement.

"Overall, our regional performance in January was excellent."

Birch credited the strong showing in January to North Asia,
which saw bookings increase 24 percent on the year.

North Asia, which groups China, Hong Kong, South Korea and
Taiwan are expected to be the main growth drivers in 2005.

"Taiwan and Hong Kong are traditionally strong markets but
China is also coming up fast. We expect China to drive Asia
Pacific travel and tourism in 2005 with travel growth of between
15 and 20 percent."

Travel bookings in IndoChina and Central Asia, which comprise
Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, were
up 12 percent in January.

In South Asia, which includes Bangladesh, Brunei, India,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore
and Sri Lanka, bookings rose 7.0 percent in January from a year
ago.

Abacus said tourist arrivals in countries affected by the Dec.
26 tsunami, which killed some 270,000 people, had still not
returned to normal and heavy promotions were needed to bring back
visitors.