Japan lifted its pandemic restrictions in October 2022, as did Hong Kong in September. And the International Air Transport Association14 is urging the Asia Pacific region to prepare for the anticipated rise in traffic as the region moves forward from COVID-19.
Warren believes this should come with a caveat. “Travellers will still have a lot go through to get to countries in the region, with various restrictions still in place, so advance preparation is key,” she says. “If we look at how the US and Europe handled opening after the pandemic, and taking on board those lessons learned, Reed & Mackay is prepared for the Asia Pacific region opening. But going into 2023 it’s still going to be a slow burn.”
Warren adds there have been glimmers of hope with the region slowly moving forward, with companies keen to travel there. Reed & Mackay is seeing Singapore as the new hub in Asia, as it grows its client base out there.
“Travel managers are seeing pent-up demand for travel – much like other countries when they reopened after the pandemic – and the region is likely to mirror other parts of the world when borders started opening,” she says. “But China remains one of the biggest countries economically and we’ll be looking to see what it does.”
