Amadeus released what it touts to be its most comprehensive study to date – “Amadeus Journey of Me Insights: What Asia Pacific Travellers Want” – a data-driven look at the world’s largest travel market, Asia Pacific. It is part of the company’s initiative to better understand how customer demands can be met in a more personalised way, as technology continues to enable deeper relationships.
The investigation involved interviewing 6870 respondents in 14 key Asia Pacific markets. According to Karun Budhraja (VP of Corporate Marketing and Communications, Amadeus APAC), it was the company’s first time all markets were studied in a single survey, with the intention of highlighting just how diverse the region is in terms of their needs, preferences and travel behaviours.
The study reached four key conclusions:
- There are many “Asias” in Asia
Perhaps the most logical but ever-important finding, Amadeus’ latest study found that there was no consistent profile of the quintessential “Asia Pacific traveller”. Much like the flawed assumption that traveller demographics can be categorised into age generations, travel preferences and styles varied widely across the APAC market – across age, gender, and culture.
For example, when asked how frequently those surveyed used sharing economy services, it was found that 48% of Indian travellers used it regularly, 70% of Japanese respondents reported that they never used them. Incentives and disincentives to travel also saw a great discrepancy between different markets. More interestingly, when it came to disincentives to travel, it was found that while 78% of Filipino travellers and 74% of Korean travellers would avoid a destination in light of recent terrorist attacks; only 45% and 48% of Indonesians and Australians would be dissuaded respectively.
The simplest conclusion to be drawn from the data is that different markets within APAC can only be understood on an individual basis. Cultural, historical and technological habits will all interplay in what consumers prefer and how it will manifest in their travel behaviours.
- The personalisation-privacy paradox
As technology continues to become an embedded part of the travel experience, the survey raised the question: is there a paradox in consumers’ desire for personalised travel and their unwillingness to disclose personal information to achieve it?
On the whole, 64% of APAC travellers reported they would be willing to trade personal data for more relevant offers and personalised experiences. However, digging a little deeper, it was found that some APAC markets (Indonesia – 80%; Taiwan – 78%) were very open to sharing personal information. Others like Japan in particular, were very unwilling (69% reporting they would not be open to sharing data). Somewhat surprisingly, findings also suggested that millennials felt less inclined to share their personal data too, in comparison with older cohorts.
It was theorised that the discrepancies could be due to how much value travellers believe can be provided at the cost of sacrificing personal data, relatively speaking. Albert Pozo (President, Amadeus APAC) said that this is when “accountability becomes absolutely critical”. Companies must be aware of what recommendations would be most useful to travellers when using their data and how valuable this actually is to their customers.
- Recommendations travellers can trust
Of course, collecting personal data is a futile effort unless used to the traveller’s benefit. It was found that when seeking recommendations, many APAC travellers do not seek out information from celebrities (which ranked as the lowest rated source of travel recommendations, next to brochures). In fact, it was found that the vast majority of travellers seek out advice from friends and family. According to the report, “inspiration is the doorway to opportunity for travel providers… but authenticity is the key to unlocking it.”
Nevertheless, online booking or travel sites also yielded a high average rating as being a leading trusted resource in the planning stages. It suggests that online travel companies should not underestimate how much influence their content may have on consumer decision-making. Thus, they maintain a fairly significant role in shaping traveller tasters and behaviours.
- Focus on the right content, through the right channel at the right time
Given current research, travel companies have considerable sway in how their customers plan, book and travel. Yet, optimising on this influence is not as simple as increasing engagement with the consumer. The report highlighted that to interact more productively with consumers, companies must understand precisely when and where they are most relevant to the traveller.
Pozo drew the analogy that similar to Amazon and Netflix, customers want to have accessibility to content at all times but only whenever and wherever they choose to access it. Thus, every engagement point matters and brands must be careful to manage what content they push, through which channels and when.
Specifically, the study highlighted that while most content is pushed at earlier funnel stages, travellers are still very open to receiving recommendations and options throughout the entirety of their journey. For instance, Filipino travellers seek out accommodation before booking flights, presenting the opportunity to influence their destination through hotel offerings. Meanwhile, Singaporean travellers typically book their stay after flights, but before departure. It reflects how the span of differences can allow companies to target travel markets in different ways and at different times.
Also, both the type of information and preferred channels of communication vary across APAC markets. Malaysian travellers reported that recommendations surrounding saving money while Vietnamese travellers preferred advice about safety and security. Moreover, while Australian and New Zealand travellers still prefer e-mail updates, unsurprisingly, Chinese travellers strongly favour messaging apps like the ubiquitous WeChat.
Ultimately, the survey revealed multiple opportunities for travel companies to engage and interact with their customers by better understanding how each segment behaves and customising offerings to suit those needs. Pozo stated, “the traveller wants to be taken care of… it’s not good enough to develop the personalisation tools and wait for them to come to you. We need to be proactive and cultivate loyalty by reaching out and providing the right information in the way they want to see it.”
