Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Tourism - Miscellaneous, grade: A, Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (The Emirates Academy), course: TOUR 310, language: English, abstract: After a period of economic upturn in the beginning of the 1990s, Asia has been concussed by a severe fiscal crisis in 1997. As the name implies the Asian Financial Crisis happened in Asia, more precisely in the Eastern Pacific Part of Asia (see Appendix A). Countries that have been affected most by the crisis are Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand. But also the Philippines, Malaysia, Laos and Hong Kong and even Australia had to deal with the unfavorable situation. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines a crisis as an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending; especially: one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome (2008). The Asian-Pacific region counts to the leading tourism destinations in the world because of its rich biodiversity, beautiful beaches, cultural curiosities, a great interpretation of hospitality and nevertheless affordable prices. This report investigates the economic factors which led to the crisis. Further the impacts on the tourism industry are demonstrated and suggestions are made how the crisis probably could have been prevented combined with improvements for the future.