These developments have led to the fragmentation of the market into niches and new segments such as the female business traveller, small business traveller and senior traveller – all of whom are characterised by “Me” as they decide how, where and what they want from their travels.

So what makes a “Me” traveller – they do not want to be part of a large leisure of business group, preferring to either travel in smaller group or alone. They want flexibility and want different things in their travels. They want to self-manage their travel plans, circumventing traditional sources of information and transactional channels in favour of a do-it-yourself approach.

Amadeus calls this “The Me Effect” in its report, Shaping the future of travel in Asia Pacific: The big FOUR travel effects”. This is one of the four themes that Amadeus believes will fundamentally change travel in the region to 2030. The other three are “The Red Tape effect” – breaking down of barriers to travel within APAC; “The Leapfrog effect” – adoption of newer technology and infrastructure; and “The Barbell effect”  – growth at the upper and lower ends of the travel spectrum.

In this series, “Shaping The Future of Travel”, WIT will cover these effects, one by one, and how travel providers adapt their businesses to meet with the changes.

Women power

President of Amadeus Asia Pacific, David Brett (pictured right) believes one big “Me” segment is the women’s market. In 2011 there were approximately 4.5 million international business trips by women from the seven countries that Amadeus studied [China, India, Australia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia]  – but by 2030 this will have increased by 400%.

Women also account for nearly 50% of all graduates across the region. With government and corporations placing greater emphasis on childcare, job sharing and flexi work time more women will come out to work and their representation in the business traveller community will grow substantially.

Said Brett, “It’s been said that women wear the pants when it comes to travel, and I believe them. Women are often the decision makers in households, particularly when itcomes to family travel. Even if they aren’t doing the actual booking, they are telling men where to book.”

Brett said Amadeus had seen some of its customers target female decision makers with tailored leisure packages. “For example, adding new elements for ‘his and hers’ into pre-paid leisure packages on top of accommodation and flights. This could be a spa treatment for her and a golf day for him.

“To be successful, the offer needs to show exceptional value at the time of booking travel and provide pre-payment options. If it’s on offer on arrival, cost and convenience can inhibit the purchase. If travel providers and agencies that can shape their offer into pre-pay value packages, I believe they can attract more leisure spend – as long as they target the decision maker.”

The Amadeus report also found that women are often more social than men. “Women on holiday use social media more than men, they like to share images, stories, experiences and they do this largely through their mobile device. Travel providers can tap into Facebook and Pinterest with visual offers which could be anything from beauty treatments to dinner options.

“Travellers will increasingly use social media to share experiences and recommendations, and will increasingly bypass traditional sources of information and even transactional channels,” said Brett.

Generation Senior

The other “Me” segment to watch for is Generation S – the senior traveller, a term coined by Amadeus. Over the next 20 years all Asia Pacific economies will see a significant increase in older people, or Gen ‘S’, especially in Singapore, China and Korea. The over 65s account for an increasingly significant portion of leisure travellers.

Said Brett,“We talk about 65 being the retirement age, but already this is changing. 65 is the new 45. I think we get caught in a warp of 2013 thinking, but we need think with 2030 in mind. Seniors are and will want to travel more and have more money to do it with. This is particularly relevant for China and India where they choose comfort and longer holidays over convenience and price,” said Brett.

The challenge though will be in monetising the segment, as observed by Okada, EVP of alliances & international Affairs, All Nippon Airways. “Seniors impose greater costs on service providers, but to date charging extra for these services is problematic. Hence with seniors a greater portion of the customer mix, service providers need to find ways to recoup the extra costs imposed.”

Observed Brett, “I’m often told by customers that they want Amadeus to help them identify the right tools to service their customers. They recognise that technology is important, but it’s more of a partnership approach. We connect the dots at the back while they connect with the people at the front. We give them the tools to help increase productivity and reduce manual error, which ultimately improves their day-to-day work flow processes so they more time to focus on customer service, and less time on paperwork.”

Here’s a snapshot of the other “Me” segments.

Visit Friends and Relatives (VFR) traveller

About 20% of leisure travellers across APAC state visiting friends and relatives as the main reason for their journey. The VFR traveller usually goes away for longer periods and stays with friends or relatives rather than in hotels. Indian travellers account for the highest VFR traffic in the region – 43%. India is now the largest source of permanent migrants to Australia, and this creates a spurt in demand for VFR travel.

Independent traveller

46% of travellers across APAC are now making their own travel arrangements and bookings via the internet, while 52% say they will do so in the future. Business travellers prefer to make their own arrangements, as they want flexibility, greater confidence and security. Leisure travellers, however, prefer self-managed bookings because it is cheaper and they enjoy the process of discovery.

Solo travel is expected to grow significantly, as travellers become more confident to travel alone. In Japan over one quarter of leisure travellers said their future travel is most likely to be solo.

Commenting on this trend, Younggeun Lee, deputy director, Korea Tourism Organisation, said, “We will see increasing FIT (free Independent tourism) travellers. Due to the IT technology development, increasing number of travellers like to customise their own travel plans and current conventional travel agencies can’t cope with that demand.”

Small business traveller

SMEs (small-to-medium enterprises), despite accounting for a majority of employment (80%) across APAC only generate a minority of business travellers, less than 20%. But with the breaking down of regulatory and financial barriers to internationalisation more SMEs will seek to work across borders with customers, suppliers or business partners. This will increase regional travel by both the self-employed and SMEs’ employees.

As most of these travellers are generally on a budget they will help stimulate the lower end of the business travel market, such as the setting up of low cost business centres at airports or hotels, providing opportunities for small entrepreneurs..

Said Puneet Mahindroo, ex-corporate director of revenue management and global distribution of Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces said. “We are seeing the Amazonification of the world: this means that service suppliers are having to customise their offerings more and more to the needs of specific individuals (segments of one). So a hotel needs to tailor its offer to each customer, based on the customer’s profile and past behaviour.”

For more, click on: Shaping the future of Asia Pacific travel – the big FOUR travel effects – 29 January 2013

Next instalment, The Red Tape Effect

• Photos & charts courtesy of Amadeus