Mastercard, a leader in global payments, has unveiled a report that demonstrates how big data can be leveraged to transform and accelerate the development of cities with economic growth.
The report, titled "The Asean Opportunity: How City Planners and Governments Can Make Cities Even Smarter by Increasing Investments in Inbound Tourism Growth", suggests that city planners can leverage data to optimally allocate resources for inbound tourism.
"Inbound tourism spending insights provide city planners with the information they need to take action towards growing inbound tourism expenditure," said Rupert Naylor, senior vice-president of Mastercard Asia-Pacific. "Strategic public-private partnerships can bring rapid improvements to create differentiation, specifically in high-visibility and high-growth areas such as tourism."
Mr Naylor said inbound travel spending has been a key contributor to the economic growth of Southeast Asia over the last decade. Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur continue to top the list for most international arrivals. These cities' inbound travel has been driven both by major tourist destinations and by locals.
Travellers are seeking other destinations, such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai in Thailand, which have seen arrivals skyrocket.
Accordingly, investments in infrastructure for these destinations, such as increasing connectivity and having more efficient public transport, greater financial inclusion for merchants and cleaning up public spaces, would sustainably drive tourism growth.
The infrastructure support in turn would spur increased economic development from inbound travel spending. Particularly for countries with lower GDP growth, such as the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia, inbound tourism is valuable for bringing in revenue and generating employment.
In addition, other opportunities remain for ongoing innovation. Crowd management and traveller experience management, for example, are initiatives that would bring in tourists and improve standard of living for residents by driving economic growth.
Mastercard transaction insights further show that travellers to specific Southeast Asian destinations are purpose-driven. For example, Thailand experiences higher tourist spending on healthcare.
"The critical dilemma facing governments and city planners is this -- how can we make the most informed decision to allocate available resources that will drive maximum impact in order to attract new tourist segments and, ultimately, drive tourism spend?" Mr Naylor said.
"Through our deep data insights and analytics experience, Mastercard is working with governments and city planners to enable nimble, data-led decision-making and optimised planning and investment that can drive economic growth and financial inclusion.
"We are also building custom programmes that improve access and enhance visitor experiences while co-creating solutions that address issues such as over-tourism and overcrowding in specific locations."
