Traffic between Asia and the Middle East grew 6 per cent reaching 38 million travellers in 2011, with Asia holding seven out of the world’s ten busiest inter-city routes, a report said.

Asia marked the most important inter-regional growth patterns of last year, according to analysis by the market intelligence solution Amadeus Total Demand.

The review looks at trends in worldwide passenger demand between regions, countries and specific airports, comparing the full 2011 passenger volumes with 2010 data. All figures relate to outbound passengers travelling between a given origin and final destination airport, irrespective of the number of connecting stops.

Regionally, Saudi Arabia took giant strides towards tourism prominence. The analysis see growth figures of the Kingdom reach 15 per cent in 2011, putting Saudi Arabia amongst the top 5 countries showing highest percentage  growth in passengers between 2010 and 2011.

Another regional player is the UAE, who achieved 10 per cent growth in visitor departures in 2011, securing a place in the top 15 fastest-growing countries by percentage growth.

It is interesting to note that the strongest traffic in between cities takes place within the same country. From the world’s top ten inter-city routes, seven are within the domestic borders of Asian countries, out of which three are in Japan.

In terms of volume, the route between Jeju and Seoul is the most important (almost 10 million passengers) followed by Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo (circa 8 million passengers).

In the Middle East region, while the volumes are smaller, the following trends can be highlighted:

•    Growing traffic in Middle Eastern inter-city routes rose predominantly between Dubai and Jeddah, followed by Dubai - Doha. Busiest routes with other regions are London-Dubai and Bombay-Dubai.

•    Increased traffic to and from Jeddah with other regions was registered, a growth certainly supported by religious travel.

"The weight of the region in terms of tourism potential is increasing very fast. The Middle East is confirming its prime position towards becoming one of the most prominent travel hubs in the world,” said Antoine Medawar, vice president, Mena, Amadeus.

“This is mainly due to its infrastructures, its strategic location as well as a strong commitment and vision by the region's rulers. We at Amadeus are committed to continue supporting the travel sector growth in this part of the world and beyond.
“Analysing and sharing key trends is a critical step for us to ensure that provided technology solutions meet the industry needs and enable its players to gain competitive edge,” he added.
While traffic between Asia and Europe, and between Asia and North America, grew by 9 per cent, traffic between North America and Europe remains the busiest inter-regional flow at a global scale with over 60 million passengers in 2011, followed by Asia and Europe with over 53 million, and Latin America and North America with 47 million passengers.

Compared with the previous year, 2 per cent fewer passengers travelled between Africa and Europe in 2011, the analysis said.

The 2011 country statistics reveal, unsurprisingly, that the strongest growth in absolute passengers is led by the BRIC countries. China registered an additional 19 million in 2011 than 2010, Brazil, 12 million, India 8 million and Russia 6 million. Indonesia was the 5th strongest growth market with an additional 5 million passengers in 2011.

Brazil (17 per cent), India (13 per cent) and Russia (15 per cent) also featured in the top ten fastest-growing countries by per cent growth. Chile (21 per cent), the Philippines (15 per cent) and Indonesia (11 per cent) are also among the fastest growing travel markets. Egypt and Japan are among the fastest shrinking markets, probably due to the Arab Spring and the tsunami. – TradeArabia News Service