With the uncertain global economic conditions and the pandemic that has just hit the world, the cost of living for most of the world's people is increasing. At least signs of recovery are starting to appear, especially in the Asia Pacific region, which has seen significant growth in overseas travel and consumer spending.
This is revealed from the Mastercard Economics Institute report entitled "Shifting Wallets", which noted that Singapore showed the largest demand in Asia Pacific for international travel. Consumer flight bookings as of June 2022 in the region were 10 percent higher above 2019 levels.
A similar situation occurred in Australia where long-haul flight bookings increased 92 percent in August 2022 compared to August 2019, and short-haul flight bookings increased 155 percent.
Not only that, consumer spending in ASEAN experienced a recovery in key categories such as retail, travel and entertainment, with spending increasing 1.5 times from before the pandemic as of June this year.
“Consumers in Asia Pacific want to make up for lost time after several challenging years,” said David Mann, Chief Economist of Mastercard AP & MEA, in a statement.
Spending on travel also outpaced spending on goods, with spending on restaurants increasing by 16 percent in August 2022 from January 2022 levels, while grocery spending fell by 5 percent.
Asia Pacific consumers prefer to order from restaurants, either in person or online, rather than making their own food at home.
「新しい場所を訪れたり、新しいことを体験したりしたいという需要の高まりは、消費者支出に深刻な影響を与えています。 With a priority on sustainable holidays, dining, entertainment and experiences, we hope that the travel and entertainment sector will continue to thrive,” continued David.
Davide sees this large number of online bookings as a new opportunity for online businesses.
「オンラインショッピングとリモートワークが私たちの日常生活に影響を与え続けているため、消費者は私たちの生活のリズムの変化に合わせて支出の好みを調整し、再調整するでしょう」と彼は言いました。
In Singapore, small online business services, such as tutoring, health care and personal care services, increased more than 3.5 times compared to 2019.
However, the gap between large and small online businesses is evident in the retail sector in more developed countries.
With e-commerce sales for large businesses in Singapore growing 200 percent, while small online retail businesses grew 59 percent in August 2022 compared to 2019.
Similarly for Australia, big business grew 93 percent, while small online business grew 24 percent.