{"id":2740,"date":"2025-01-11T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/?p=2740"},"modified":"2025-05-21T16:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T08:22:08","slug":"challenges-in-tourism-industry-in-the-new-year-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/challenges-in-tourism-industry-in-the-new-year-of-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenges in tourism industry in the New Year of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
During the two years from 2023 to 2024, if a regular travel agency has failed to materialise substantial business growth or cover its operational losses during the coronavirus pandemic, then it has apparently missed the golden opportunity for a remarkable turnaround in post-pandemic tourism industry.<\/em><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

<2024: A year of full recovery><\/strong>
Take Japan for instance, the country saw an unexpected strong rebound in its inbound sector with over 35 million tourist arrivals, outpacing its pre-pandemic best of 31.88 million in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By comparison, the country hosted only 2.14 million foreign tourists back in 2014.
As a matter of fact, such a remarkable surge could be attributed to Japan\u2019s broad-based visa exemption policy implemented before the pandemic, as well as its initiatives in optimising entry thresholds for foreign visitors and comprehensive duty-free shopping facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, Japan has long been known for its rich cultural legacy, tourism resources and pristine and safe environment that have lured millions of globe-trotters from across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Instead of visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, or other popular cherry blossom parks, consider exploring the countryside in Japan\u2019s Tohoku region for a more serene and authentic sakura experience.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Riding on such success, Japan is now targeting to welcome more than 60 million foreign visitors by 2030. To fulfill this target, the Japanese government has announced to further liberalise its visa policy for Chinese tourists in spring 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s inbound tourism performance is equally outstanding, with the number of incoming tourists topping 100 million, nearing the previous record of 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Kunming\u2019s Puer Tea & coffee farm resort:
In 2025, people are beginning to look for off-the-beaten-track destinations far away from the hustle and bustle of tourist crowds for a more exclusive and invigorating travelling experience.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Through its \u201cNihao China\u201d global tourism program, the Chinese government has liberalised its visa policy (including visa on arrival and visa exemption), and this has triggered a new wave of \u201cChina Craze\u201d among global travellers. 2024 was a crucial year for China\u2019s tourism industry, and 2025 will see the heat further picking up, for sure!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For your information, the most popular tourist destinations in the world in 2024 were the United States, Spain, Japan, France, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Italy and Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These countries have been able to enjoy continued boom in the tourism industry largely thanks to their conducive development environment, including business-friendly conditions, active labour market, supportive government policies, comprehensive transportation network and infrastructure, rich and diverse natural, cultural and recreational resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Namibia\u2019s Red Desert, Sossusvlei: Ecotourism is a remarkable journey of knowledge and discovery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Notably, cleanliness, safety and friendliness of their people are major pull factors that have drawn tourists from far and near. Countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey and other emerging markets have won the hearts of returning visitors owing to unparalleled hospitality and heart-warming tourism strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generally speaking, the strong rebound in global tourism in 2024 could be attributed to the following factors:
\u2022 Remarkable surge in global demand
\u2022 Increased flight frequencies and more open international environment
\u2022 Conducive visa policies for greater convenience
\u2022 Improvements in natural and cultural destinations<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Despite the sterling performance of global tourism in 2024, global situation is poised to be more convoluted in the year ahead.
\u2022 Geopolitical and economic pressure: Increased uncertainties, economic turmoil, inflation and other issues continue to plague our world
\u2022 Supply-demand imbalance: Skilled labour shortage, undersupply of air and ground transport services, stagnant capital investment and other problems that may bog down the development of tourism industry
\u2022 Pricing and service quality: Rising cost from global inflation, low service quality to meet the needs of explosive demands
\u2022 Environmental sustainability: Over-tourism and excessive emission posing severe challenges for sustained development
\u2022 Equity and inclusivity: Over-tourism in major destinations such as gassho villages of Japan, Venice in Italy, and Croatia, have impacted the lives of local residents<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tibet National Roads G217 and G219 have become dream routes for many adventurers. Travelers choose various modes of transportation\u2014cycling, motorcycling, self-driving, or even trekking on foot\u2014all to fulfill their dream of conquering these iconic roads.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


The tourism industry is not just a locomotive of economic development, but is also a major source of energy to tackle global challenges. To materialise long-term prosperity and sustained development, the following strategies should be taken into consideration by decision-makers worldwide:
\u2022 Promote ecological and cultural preservation: Integrate tourism resources and environment protection goals for sustained ecological development
\u2022 Invest in skilled labour pool: Create more versatile and inclusive tourism industry manpower system
\u2022 Optimise infrastructure management: Systematically disperse tourist flow not to overburden the capacity of a sightseeing destination or result in overdevelopment
\u2022 Promote cultural exchanges: Encourage tourist interactions with local communities for enhanced mutual understanding
\u2022 Narrow wealth gap: Promote economic development and create job opportunities in less developed areas through tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a matter of fact, tourism industry has contributed 10 per cent to global GDP and created 10 per cent of employment opportunities, and this shows the utmost significance of this industry. The thing is, how to unleash its potentials through strategic management to become a reckoned force in maximising global prosperity? There is only one answer to this question: adopt a more inclusive and sustainable long-term development strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P\/S: I was in Hainan island when browsing the WEF Travel and Tourism Development 2024, but an early morning news on Jeju Air plane crash sent chills down my spine. It serves to remind us that aviation safety will always remain the most vital issue in the tourism industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During the two years from 2023 to 2024, if a regular travel agency has failed to materialise substantial…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2746,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[18,30,48,20],"class_list":{"0":"post-2740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leesan","8":"tag-applevacationsmy","9":"tag-leesan","10":"tag-the-star-travel-gab","11":"tag-travel","12":"cs-entry","13":"cs-video-wrap"},"featured_media_src_url":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/110125-P1-1024x576.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2740"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3107,"href":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2740\/revisions\/3107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applevacations.my\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}