SEA travel rebound splits bank payments between cards wallets and experiences

Euromonitor finds 57% of travel professionals prioritise customer journeys as wallet gaps persist across key SEA markets.

Southeast Asia’s travel recovery is creating new opportunities for banks and payment providers as consumer spending splits across luxury, value, experiential and digital travel segments.

David Zhang, Regional Market Insight Manager for Euromonitor International, said consumer travel spending in Southeast Asia is projected to grow at more than 6% compound annual growth rate from 2025 to 2030, outpacing global growth.

Zhang said the rebound is being shaped by three structural trends: polarisation, experiential travel and smart travel. Affluent consumers are driving premium spending on hotels, fine dining and travel services, whilst cost-conscious consumers are supporting volume growth.

Experiential travel is also changing where money is spent. Zhang said more than half of regional consumers have expressed interest in curated experiences such as events, concerts, nature trips and adventure activities. This category is growing faster than spending on food, dining and shopping.

These shifts are changing payment demand. Credit cards remain important for affluent travellers making higher-value purchases such as flights and hotels, whilst digital wallets continue to serve mass-market and underserved consumers in emerging markets such as Thailand and Indonesia.

However, cross-border wallet use remains a friction point. Zhang said mobile wallet users may not always be able to spend overseas, whilst inbound cardholders can face payment gaps in markets such as Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Events are also making payment journeys more complex. Regional demand for concerts, including Taylor Swift’s Singapore shows, brought fans from the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia and diversified payment needs across markets.

Zhang said banks and payment players should prioritise acceptance across cards and digital wallets. Partnerships such as GCash and Touch ’n Go using Alipay+ for overseas spending show how wallet acceptance can support travel purchases.

Customer experience will also matter. Euromonitor’s survey found 57% of industry professionals see customer journey improvements as critical, whilst 34% of travel players plan to invest in artificial intelligence.

For banks, the test is whether payment systems can keep pace with travel demand across borders and channels.