Last year, Asia Pacific set a new record for international arrivals, welcoming 570 million visitors to the region. According to numbers released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association, this was about 22.5 million more than the previous year. The numbers are broken down into 427.5 million arrivals in Asia, 22.7 million arrivals in Pacific countries and 129.8 million arrivals in Pacific-bordering countries in the Americas. Certain destinations received significantly higher arrivals than others, particularly arrivals stemming from certain destinations. Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, points to loosening visa restrictions as a possible reason for a portion of the tremendous growth. “The modification of visa regulations to allow for online visa processing and in a few destinations, the more complete liberalization of the process itself, has validated those actions with stronger arrival rates,” he said. “This has occurred without any compromise of the safety and security of those destinations. There is a lesson there for all of us that security and ease of access can work well together if given a chance.” An additional 3.3 million Hong Kong visitors traveled to China last year, with the same additional numbers traveling from China into Thailand. Vietnamese arrivals to Macau grew by 226 per cent, Saudi Arabian arrivals to Mexico grew by 148 per cent and Chinese arrivals to Palau grew by 121 per cent. In fact, Chinese travellers now make up 23 per cent of all Asia Pacific arrivals. Last year’s Chinese arrivals in Asia Pacific reached numbers of more than 102 million, and the total is only expected to grow, reaching 150 million by 2020. It’s estimated the resulting in-country aggregate expenditure will then total approximately US$230 billion. When looking at overall foreign arrivals in the region, the PATA estimates the number will grow to 657 million total within the next four years. International travellers from within Asia will account for 78 per cent of the approximate total, while the Americas will contribute 16 per cent.