Q – (8.11.25) – My husband and I are recently retired. We have been fortunate enough to travel quite well in our former positions, but we never spent much time in Asia.. We plan to undertake up to three separate trips to Asia within the next 36 months. We will contact you regarding specifics, but we were wondering of you would mind, on this excellent Q&A format, to give us an overview of travel within Asia? Is it up or down – where are Americans going – any trends?
A – The trends in Asia have been quite interesting. There has been a great deal of discussion about the Canadians boycotting travel to the United States. Rarely mentioned is the fact that the Chinese are as well. Inbound tourism from China is down significantly. The industry data shows that travel to Asia from the US is up between 15-20% year-to-year. The countries that are responsible for most of this growth are Japan and Thailand.
The influence of the TV Series White Lotus is thought to account for a great deal of the interest and follow-through in tourism to Thailand. There are no real signs of this interest slowing down.
Travel to China is down, as it has been for the past four years. Some analysts attribute this to a lack of adequate non-stop flights from the US Mainland to China’s primary destinations. While Thailand is enjoying the benefits of Mike White induced tourism numbers, Japan is now leveling off as a result of over-tourism and consistently rising prices. Japan is a bit of an enigma – as the yen is still weak against the dollar. But trade tariffs and demand have resulted in higher prices negating much of the benefit of as dollar that buys more yen.
We are seeing enhanced interest in cruises that circle Japan. It is a wonderful way to see the country and the “TrueLux” lines are, even in the best accommodations, far less expensive than the cost of hotels and meals on an independent basis. Many affluent travelers from the US are rethinking the cruising option given what are perceived as skyrocketing costs for hotels, meals, and private guides who speak fluent English.
