APAC consumers to spend more for travel, dining out in 2024: Mastercard

Consumers are expected to allocate a larger share of their wallets to discretionary spending.

People in the Asia Pacific region will be able to allocate a larger share of their wallets to discretionary spending such as travel and entertainment in 2024, according to an outlook report released by the Mastercard Economics Institute (MEI).

“2024 is set to be a year of recalibration as consumers rebalance their wallets. And what the data shows is that people remain eager to travel and dine out, although levels vary from market to market,” said David Mann, chief economist, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. 

Drilling down into individual economies, growth expectations are mixed across the region. On one end of the spectrum, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea should see upticks while slowdowns are anticipated in Australia, the Chinese Mainland, Japan and New Zealand. India and Indonesia are expected to hold largely steady at 2023 levels.

Rising demand for goods
Consumers across APAC are expected to spend more on goods in 2024 than they did in 2023, amidst rebounding economic growth.

In particular, demand for household items and clothing are expected to resuscitate the Asia Pacific manufacturing sector, which plays a crucial role in the global economy. 

Meanwhile, the further recover of Chinese outbound travel– and the expected addition of more countries to China’s approved list for group travel– will support overseas tourism spending across the region.
 
“The recovery in China’s outbound spending will continue to be closely watched,” adds Mann. “Pre-pandemic, tourists from the Chinese Mainland focused heavily on shopping, particularly for luxury goods, when traveling internationally. Post-pandemic, spending on experiences such as entertainment and dining have seen a stronger recovery among early travellers out of the Chinese Mainland.”