The weekly news roundup: Jetstar’s Big Book Swap, five personas of Chinese travellers, Edmond Travel partners with Travelport
AVIATION: A mile-high (book) club takes off with Jetstar
Jetstar is encouraging its guests to read on holidays. (Image credit: Jetstar)
Fancy being member of a mile-high club, of the book kind? Low cost carrier Jetstar has started one with the launch of the Jetstar’s Big Book Swap.
Touted as the “world’s highest book club” it is a joint initiative of the airline and the National Reading Movement to encourage travellers to read while on holidays.
Jetstar came up with this project after a survey of over 3,900 Singaporeans revealed that reading was not a priority for most of the respondents.
“55% of the respondents read less than five times a year, with 42% stating that the primary reason for not picking up a book was due to a lack of spare time. Despite holidays being a time for people to unwind and relax, only 7% usually read while on vacation,” were some of the findings.
The airline also hopes the flying book club will persuade travellers to put away their electronic devices, and recapture their love for reading on flights and holidays.
The Jetstar Big Book Swap will make books available to passengers at no cost, kick-starting a book exchange movement in the air. (see video below)
On July 30, Singapore’s inaugural National Reading Day, over 500 books and bestselling titles donated by the National Library Board (NLB), MPH Bookstores, Select Books, Book Point and Write Editions will be distributed to passengers at the boarding gates of selected Jetstar flights at Changi Airport Terminal 1.
Passengers can enjoy the books inflight and during their holiday, and return them to the seat pocket during their return Jetstar flight.
They can also contribute their own books to the flying book club, with a Book Swap sticker from the Jetstar crew.
“Books are an increasingly forgotten form of in-flight entertainment that can transport one to an imaginary adventure even before the flight departs,” said Chantal van Wijnbergen, Jetstar regional marketing manager SEA.
She hopes the flying book club would reinvigorate its passengers’ passion for reading, and “have the book swap flourish into the world’s first flying, community-driven book club.”
Jetstar’s Big Book Swap will be available on all Jetstar Asia flights from July 30 to August 31, 2016.
SECTORS: Survey reveals five personas of Chinese travellers
Experience seekers is the persona with the greatest growth potential. (Image credit: Placebo365/iStock)
Travel is an essential part of life for two thirds of Chinese outbound travellers, and 92% of them plan to increase or maintain spending despite the economic slowdown according to the fifth annual Hotels.com Chinese International Travel Monitor.
The report identified five travel personas among the Chinese outbound travellers. According to the report, this could help change perceptions of these travellers among hotels and the travel industry and allow them to tailor their offerings and target their marketing.
These travellers are more independent and diverse, and have their specified needs for their vacations.
- Detailed explorers (25%): Born in the 60s and 70s they are innovative and optimistic, like to learn and explore, and to plan their trips down to the last detail.
- Cautious connectors (25%): Born in the 60s and 70s they come from lower-tier cities, are responsible family people, and travel to bond with loved ones. They prefer safe, family-friendly hotels.
- Experience seekers (17%): Tend to be born in the 80s and 90s and from top-tier cities. They like stylish hotels and professional advice on local cultural activities. They travel to enrich their experience, being independent and ambitious.
- Indulgers (12%): Most likely born in the 80s they travel to indulge themselves and to demonstrate their power. They tend to stay at higher-star hotels and go on adventurous local tours.
- Basic pleasure seekers (21%): Millennials born in the 90s and unlike other groups, more of them are women than men. They are aesthetically minded and travel for non-material enjoyment, seeking value-for-money accommodation.
“While detailed explorers and cautious connectors are the largest segments it’s important for the hotel and travel industry to prioritise their focus on emerging and growing segments,” said Abhiram Chowdhry, vice president and managing director Asia Pacific for Hotels.com.
“We predict the persona with the greatest potential for growth is experience seekers, based on the survey data, as they are millennials with some of the highest daily holiday spending at US$474 per day”.
The survey data also revealed Chinese millennials spent 27% of their income on travel, the highest proportion of all Chinese travellers.
TECHNOLOGY: Edmond Travel grows its online presence with Travelport
Edmond Travel expands in the OTA space with Travelport.
Hong Kong-based travel agency Edmond Travel has signed a new multi-year agreement with Travelport, enabling it to access the commerce platform’s travel content.
This includes branded fares and ancillaries from the airlines and low cost carriers, and over 650,000 hotel properties.
Following the migration to Travelport Edmond Travel-connected agents are now processing travel bookings using Travelport’s Smartpoint point of sale solution.
Edmond Travel is also working with Travelport’s team of OTA experts and leveraging Travelport Universal API technology to develop a brand new internet booking engine, www.ticket7.com.
Edmond Ng, managing director of Edmond Travel, said: “We chose to switch to Travelport for several reasons including its online technology and support, which will enable Edmond Travel to expand in the OTA space.
“We were also impressed with Travelport Smartpoint’s easy to use point-and-click features and rich graphical descriptions which have decreased our training time and overheads.”
Established in 1982 Edmond Travel is one of the leading leisure travel agencies in Hong Kong.
• Featured image credit: Jetstar
