Dynamics of Tourist Flows in Southeast Asia in 2016

ERI FEB RAS	Issue's contents	RUS
	Regionalistica 2026 Volume 13 number 2 pages 61-76

Title of the article	Dynamics of Tourist Flows in Southeast Asia in 2016–2025: Russia’s Place
Pages	61-76
Author	Dyomina Yana Valeryevna candidate of sciences (economics), senior research fellow Economic Research Institute FEB RAS 153, Tikhookeanskaya Street, Khabarovsk, Russia, 680042 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ORCID: 0000-0001-5208-7273
Abstract	The article examines the development trends of the ASEAN tourism sector, including mutual tourist flows between the Association and Russia. Tourism flows to ASEAN, unlike the global ones, was unable to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic shock by the end of 2025. Geopolitical tensions have boosted travelling prices, reducing the number of foreign tourists arriving in the region. At the same time inflation increased export revenues of host countries. Tourist arrivals in Southeast Asia have undergone some changes by origin countries. During the study period China reduced its share from 17,0% in 2016 to 14,8% in 2025, but remained the largest export destination for the Association. At the same time, tourist flows from the EU, India, the Republic of Korea, Russia, and Taiwan (China) have increased. Intra-ASEAN arrivals increased from 38,9% in 2016 to 42,0% in 2025. ASEAN countries (especially Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia) have traditionally been attractive to Russian travelers. Tourist arrivals from Russia to Southeast Asia showed steady growth, despite the negative effects of anti-Russian sanctions and the crisis in the Persian Gulf. At the same time, Russia is a niche destination for the Southeast Asian travelers. In the near future, the development of the tourism sector will be significantly affected by uncertainty caused by geopolitical risks and ongoing conflicts, trade tensions and climate change. In general, the prospects for the development of the ASEAN tourism sector are related to the possibility of its adaptation to new global trends, which are being formed by a large group of generation Z and millennial travelers, as well as the development of digital nomadism and bleisure.
Code	332.1+338.48+339.98
DOI	10.14530/reg.2026.2.61
Keywords	tourism, tourist flows, sanctions, Russia, Southeast Asia, ASEAN
Download	2026-02.61.pdf
For citation	Dyomina Yа.V. Dynamics of Tourist Flows in Southeast Asia in 2016–2025: Russia’s Place. Regionalistica [Regionalistics]. 2026. Vol. 13. No. 2. Pp. 61–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.14530/reg.2026.2.61 (In Russian)
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Financing	The article was carried out within the state assignment for research work of the Institute of Economic Research FEB RAS.
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