BANGKOK – The Philippine travel industry has recovered to pre-crisis level after posting a 10 percent growth in air travel bookings in the first half of 2010 versus the same period last year leading a recovery in the Asia Pacific region, said global airline IT solutions provider Amadeus.

In its report to the Philippine media, Amadeus Asia Pacific vice president for the airline group John Chapman said that travel bookings for the January-June period this year have been up 22 percent over 2009 and a slight improvement of 1 percent over 2008.

“Things are looking very good this year, we have very positive feedback and the Asia Pacific is leading in terms of recovery,” Chapman said.

“The Asia Pacific s leading in air travel growth with global profits expected to reach $2.5 billion this year for the industry,” Chapman said.

Amadeus Philippines country manager Albert Villadolid explained that the Philippines 10 percent growth in the first semester this year may appear slower than the 22 percent posted in the Asia Pacific-wide growth, but this was largely due to the fact that the Philippines was not severely affected by the steep decline in the region in 2009.

Villadolid explained that the 10 percent growth in the first semester this year meant a full recovery to the pre-crisis level in 2008 for the Philippines air travel.

“The Philippines was not severely affected in 2009 versus other countries, so the growth last year was therefore tempered,” Villadolid said.

The growth was largely fueled by the robust growth from the low cost carriers that dominate travels in the region in the first half of 2009.

The Philippine travel market has been dominated by the aggressive campaigns of Cebu Pacific, the country’s low cost carrier which has already overtaken PAL as the country’s biggest airline company.