Skyscanner’s annual APAC Travel Trends Report 2018, covering eight markets – Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan and Thailand – peels back the layers on customer preferences as travel becomes more accessible to a rapidly growing middle class.
Said Paul Whiteway, Head of Growth, Skyscanner APAC, “It never ceases to amaze me how things are evolving in Asia. The pace and speed of growth in the region is unbelievable. We see this through the expanding middle class, the growing millennial travellers and the increasing identity of being a traveller. Where in the past, travel was open to a select few, now it is more attainable than ever.”
Here are some of the report’s key highlights:
Customers are planning further in advance but booking closer to departure
It isn’t even 2019 yet but APAC travellers are already thinking about what destinations they’d like to hit come the new year. APAC travellers are researching flights slightly farther in advance, but booking flights closer to departure. Taiwan’s average search lead-time went up by eight days, with average booking lead growing by five days too.
Other APAC countries saw an increase in search lead time of one to two days, with average booking lead getting shorter by about the same amount.
South Korea’s average booking lead time reduced by four days on average, suggesting a growing pattern of weekend travel plans, or they simply might be responding to last minute flash sales.
The takeaway: The intent to travel is never fully sated, and customers are willing to wait around until the right deal comes along before they click ‘book’. Those most likely to reap the benefits of longer search lead times are those that manage to keep themselves on the radar at peak decision-making times.
We dream of travel before we go to sleep
As it turns out, people dream about their next holiday just before they turn in for bed. Across South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, the majority of travel research and planning is done just prior to calling it a night. Skyscanner’s data reflects peak usage between 11pm to 1am, with the average bedtime taking place in the same period.
Thailand, Australia and New Zealand are exceptions, however, with the majority of travel searches happening between 8pm to 10pm, meaning it is more likely to be a post-dinner activity.
A lot of this might be thanks to us getting more comfortable with browsing and booking travel via mobile. According to Skyscanner, there has been a 7% shift from desktop to mobile when browsing flight options (as measured by the proportion of redirects to partner sites), across APAC.
This is likely largely down to mobile-friendlier websites, a greater range of secure mobile payment options and a general growth in trust when transacting on mobile devices.
The takeaway: It is probably time to re-consider scheduling your marketing emailers, push notifications and campaigns to a new golden hour. Presenting products and services in the right time and in the right format are more likely to help brands get better traction from their audiences.
Turkey tops travel searches
There’s been a shift in global travel searches over the past year amongst APAC travellers with a perhaps unlikely contender coming to the fore.
Outside of APAC, Turkey has topped the travel search list with 35% year-on-year growth (with Istanbul ranked as the fourth most search destination), alongside Portugal (34%) and Hungary (30%).
South-east Asia is credited with driving much of this search, with Turkey’s popularity being attributed to Vietnamese, Filipino and Taiwanese travellers. Turkey has seen annual growth of annual visitors rise by 16% (5.4 million) in 2018 and its spike in search as a destination will likely only result in this number continuing to grow.
The takeaway: APAC travellers are looking increasingly outward when dreaming of where they’d like to travel next.
In APAC, South Korea and Vietnam are in vogue
Nevertheless, the usual tourism titans – Japan, Thailand, USA – still retain the top three rankings of top destinations in 2018 (the same as 2017), with China coming in fourth. However, South Korea and Vietnam are not far behind, rising two spots in the rankings since 2017, while Taiwan and Indonesia have actually dipped in popularity over the past year.
While South Korea and Vietnam are climbing up the ladder, their growth is thanks to two significantly different crowds.
Skyscanner saw year-on-year flight searches spike for South Korea from Philippines (108%), Japan (64%) and Vietnam (50%). Korean Tourism Organisation (KTO) confirmed these findings, stating that its top arrival markets in the past year were the same, plus Thailand.
Vietnam, on the other hand, saw top arrivals from South Korea (46%), China, Japan and Taiwan (59%), according to the Vietnam Tourism Board. Skyscanner’s data revealed the same, with the inclusion of Hong Kong (37%).
On a city-level however, things look a little different.
Japan still ranks as one of the strongest destinations, with three cities ranking within the top 10 – Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa. “The top destinations continue to dominate every year, playing musical chairs with the rankings,” said Whiteway, Skyscanner’s head of growth in APAC.
Overall, Tokyo, Bangkok and Osaka are the top city destinations two years running, with Seoul rising up to fourth place (ranked #5 in 2017). In fact, nine out of the top ten city destinations are within APAC, with the exception of London, coming it at seventh.
Part of South Korea and Vietnam’s rising popularity as countries is the shift in demand for destinations that aren’t traditionally major travel hubs. For example, while Seoul grew 14% year-on-year in searches, it pales in comparison to Jeju Island (43%) and Busan (19%).
The same goes for Vietnam, where while Ho Chi Minh City grew by 7%, cities like Nha Trang and Da Nang saw record growth.
In fact, Nha Trang ranked well above others in a data reflecting top emerging cities, taking top spot at a record 154% year-on-year growth, followed by Jeju (43%) and Vladivostock (35%).
The takeaway: Intra-APAC travel remains strong, even with travellers are dreaming of further destinations. Tourism hotspots can’t afford to rest on their laurels as travellers’ gazes shift to less explored areas in search for a novel experience.
At the same time, the opportunity for these emerging destinations to capitalise on a new influx of travellers is huge… but they must tread carefully, so as not to gain tourism traction at the cost of their ‘untouched charm’.
Word of mouth trumps tech, when inspiring travellers
The rising popularity of new destinations has not necessarily been the direct result of active, overt destination marketing campaigns plastered all over digital media and physical ad space.
In fact, word of mouth has proven to be the most powerful source of inspiration across all age cohorts (affecting an average of 60% of travel decisions), followed by social media and television shows. Though there are variations between individual APAC markets.
“Social media remains the second-highest source of inspiration in the 30 to 39 demographic at 46%, and 40 to 49 age group at 38%, while dropping to third behind TV in the 50 to 59 age group,” said the report.
“Overall, the importance of advertisements and celebrity influencers in making travel decisions is ebbing across the region. In Hong Kong, however, celebrities are considered the most important source of inspiration. Social media beats word of mouth as the most inspirational travel source in Thailand and Taiwan. Surprisingly, TV shows and movies also rank higher than word of mouth in Taiwan.”
The takeaway: While word of mouth is proving to be a powerful influence at the inspiration stage, travel companies are best advised to plan strategies at an individual market level, to make the most of their marketing spend.
An emerging middle class of Premium Economy travellers
Travellers are getting comfortable with the idea of travelling farther distances, with the hopes of more novel experiences, especially with evolving airfares, the rise of low-cost long haul, and Premium Economy going mainstream.
In fact, Business class is now on average 7% cheaper than it was a year ago, and Premium Economy has dropped by 10%. The result: a predictable drop in the number of passengers in Economy, and a rise in Business (46%) and Premium (62%) passengers.
It goes to show that consumers are willing to splurge on a bit of comfort and luxury at a price tag they deem reasonable and of decent value. In fact, 83% of Premium Economy flight searches are for long-haul journeys (up 7% from 2017), while medium-haul (14%) and short-haul make up the remainder.
Australia seems most primed to take advantage of paying a premium for comfort, with 49% growth in Premium Economy and Business class bookings to popular long-haul destinations like the UK, USA, Italy and France.
Taiwan ranked second in the ranks of Premium Economy growth for long-haul flights, followed by Singapore, Japan and New Zealand.
The takeaway: Travellers aren’t so much budget-conscious as they are value-oriented. Incremental price changes or package offerings could do a lot to incentivise people to spend that little bit extra for a far better customer experience.
While unbundling ticket offers by stripping away the more practical perks (like check-in baggage) has its merits, think more dynamically about how to offer better value adds within the cost of a ticket.
Lead image: Getty Images