PR97043

LONDON, July 19, 2022 /PRNewswire＝KYODO JBN/ --

Passport holders with the greatest global access are currently the most

restricted and reluctant to enjoy their travel freedom, according to the latest

results from the Henley Passport Index

(https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index), which is based on exclusive and

official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA)

(https://www.iata.org/). Japan holds the number one spot on the index — the

original ranking of all the world's passports according to the number of

destinations their can access without a prior visa — with a record-high

visa-free or visa-on-arrival score of 193, while Singapore and South Korea come

in joint-2nd place, with a score of 192.

But despite the record-breaking worldwide access afforded to citizens of these

three nations over the index's 17-year history, international passenger demand

in the Asia-Pacific region has only reached 17% of pre-Covid levels, according

to IATA's latest statistics, having hovered below 10% for most of the past two

years. This figure is far behind the global trend where markets in Europe and

North America have recovered to around 60% of pre-crisis travel mobility

levels. Commenting in the Henley Global Mobility Report 2022 Q3

(https://www.henleyglobal.com/publications/global-mobility-report/2022-q3), Dr

Marie Owens Thomsen

(https://www.henleyglobal.com/publications/global-mobility-report/2022-q3/travel

-trends/rebounding-aviation-industry-demonstrates-resilience-and-agility),

Chief Economist at IATA, says passenger numbers should reach 83% of

pre-pandemic levels in 2022: "By next year, many markets should see traffic

reach or exceed pre-pandemic levels, while we expect this to be the case for

the industry as a whole in 2024."

EU member states dominate the remaining top 10 ten spots on the latest ranking,

with Germany and Spain in joint-3rd place, with access to 190 destinations

visa-free. Finland, Italy, and Luxembourg follow closely behind in joint-4th

place with 189 destinations, and Denmark, Netherlands, and Sweden share 5th

place with their passport holders able to travel to 188 destinations worldwide

without a visa. Both the UK and US have dropped down a rank, to 6th and 7th

place, respectively, and Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the index, with

its nationals only able to access 27 destinations worldwide visa-free. The

global mobility gap between the world's most and least powerful passports now

sits at an unprecedented 166 destinations.

Summer travel chaos

As US travel chaos begins to ease following the Fourth of July holiday weekend,

staff shortages and other issues are forcing airlines across Europe to cancel

thousands of flights, causing hours-long queues at major airports. Heathrow

Airport has even told airlines to stop selling summer tickets as the UK's

biggest airport struggles to cope with the rebound in air travel.

Dr Christian H. Kaelin (https://chriskalin.com/), Chairman of Henley & Partners

(https://www.henleyglobal.com/) and the inventor of the passport index concept,

says the recent surge in demand is hardly surprising: "The latest results are a

heartening reminder of the very human desire for global connectivity even as

some countries move toward isolationism and autarky. The shock of the pandemic

was unlike anything seen in our lifetimes, and the recovery and reclamation of

our travel freedoms, and our innate instinct to move and migrate will take

time."

UAE the clear pandemic winner

Throughout the turmoil of the past two years, one thing has remained constant:

the growing strength of the UAE passport, which now sits at 15th place on the

ranking, with a visa-free or visa-on-arrival score of 176. Over the past

decade, the country has made unparalleled gains as the biggest climber on the

index — in 2012, it sat at 64th place on the rankings, with a score of just

106. As the latest Henley Private Wealth Migration Dashboard

(https://www.henleyglobal.com/publications/henley-private-wealth-migration-dashb

oard) demonstrates, the UAE has also become the focus of intense interest among

affluent investors and is expected to see the highest net influx of HNWIs

globally in 2022, with a forecast net increase of 4,000 — a dramatic increase

of 208% versus 2019's net inflow of 1,300 and one of its largest on record.

Peaceful countries have more powerful passports

Unique research conducted by Henley & Partners comparing a country's visa-free

access with its Global Peace Index score shows a strong correlation between a

nation's passport power and its peacefulness. All of the nation's sitting in

the top ten of the Henley Passport Index (https://www.henleyglobal.com/) can

also be found in the top ten of the Global Peace Index. Likewise, for the

bottom ranking nations.

Commenting on the results in the Henley Global Mobility Report 2022 Q3

(https://www.henleyglobal.com/publications/global-mobility-report/2022-q3),

Stephen Klimczuk-Massion

(https://www.henleyglobal.com/publications/global-mobility-report/2022-q3),

Quondam Fellow of Oxford University's Saïd Business School, says: "Your

passport is more than ever a calling card, which, depending on which passport

you carry and where you are going, will have an impact on the kind of welcome

you will receive, where you can go and how safe you will be when you get there.

Now more than ever, it's a mistake to think of a passport as merely a travel

document that allows you to get from A to B. The relative strength or weakness

of a particular national passport directly affects the quality of life for the

passport holder and may even be a matter of life and death in some

circumstances."

Read Full Release

(https://www.henleyglobal.com/newsroom/press-releases/2022-passport-index-global

-mobility-q3)

SOURCE: Henley & Partners