Into the mystical lands of the Orient

American travellers seem to have overcome the post 9 / 11 fears of long-distance travel and are heading towards Vietnam, China, India, causing the travel industry to boom in these parts.

According to the latest available figures, the number of U.S. travellers to 12 Asian nations tracked by the US government topped 5 million in 2004, up 31 per cent from the previous year. With China and India being hot favourites, Asian travel and tourism is expected to continue mounting.

Americans have a newly found interest in exotic dishes, cruise new waterways, adopting children, seeking medical cures and touring ancient temples. Nearly 14 million Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese and others of Asian descent who live in the US, go back home to find a spouse, show off babies, start businesses or buy second homes. They also go to clinch deals, develop business ties and monitor factories for US retailers.

In the post-SARS travel scenario, China rivalled Japan in 2004 as the most favoured destination, each getting 1 million American tourists. The United Nations World Tourism Organisation predicts that China will be the most-visited country in the world by 2020. China is increasingly being seen as the engine that will drive Asia in the future. This is partly because China will host the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The country has already begun spending billions to upgrade airports, hotels, roads, office buildings and shops, and the WTTC is advising China on building a Western-style tourism industry.

China, and Asia overall, still face serious hurdles. Flights cost $1,000 and up per person. Also, journeys from the US involving connections take 20 hours or so, and even new non-stop flights take about 15 hours. New airlines, however, are offering more flights and sometimes lower fares. Since 1997, the US has dismantled or reduced rules restricting air service with seven Asian countries, including India, China and Thailand.

As a result, Fort Worth-based American Airlines this month launched its first China route — a 14-hour non-stop flight between Chicago's O'Hare airport and Shanghai.

Tourist traffic to India is also expected to grow substantially. Last year, both Houston-based Continental and American launched non-stop service to India that saved at least three hours on the 8,000-mile flights. In December 2004, United Airlines became the first U.S. carrier to fly into Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, since the Vietnam War.

Service will continue to expand. Asian carriers have ordered more long-range jets than airlines in any other region. Many of the new Airbus A380s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners will be used to connect US cities with Asian cities, eliminating the need for layovers in cities such as Paris, Frankfurt and Dubai.

Asia has also been offering better lodging facilities of brands familiar to the Americans that are an additional attraction for tourists. InterContinental is building Holiday Inns as well as a deluxe 450-room InterContinental atop a skyscraper in Nanjing, China, which the company says will be the world's tallest hotel.

From cuisine to therapy and temples to glitzy Bollywood musicals, Asian culture is increasingly invading in US malls, magazines and theatres.

Marketers know that drives travel. India's tourism marketers, for instance, are giving away a free yoga vacation in India on its IncredibleIndia.org website.

In five years, 40 per cent of Americans will be over 60, many of them retirees, and will have more time to travel. Always craving novelty, they will also have the inclination and the money to do so.

The US's growing Asian population also generates trips. Roughly two-thirds of the 2 million Indians living in the US, for instance, are India-born, with strong bonds with their homeland.
Surveys indicate that half of all Indians living in the US return at least every other year. Many go to find a spouse, visit relatives or undergo medical procedures for less than they can in the US, he says. Some seek a potential second home in one of the many new residential developments for non-citizens.