Asians so love social media that they are not only influenced by the medium for their sand and sea vacations, but is also the platform for them to show off photos and videos of their escapades.
Asians’ beach vacations influenced by social media
According to Expedia in its recently released “2014 Flip Flop Report” (see detailed report in infograhics below), 60% of Asian respondents said social media platforms were very/somewhat influential when choosing a destination for their beach vacation, compared to their counterparts in North America (39%) and Europe (24%) saying the same.
The report also found that both Asians and Westerners were on par in their love for a good deal, with one in two travellers saying last minute package flight/hotel travel deals influenced their choice of destination. In Asia, Thais (67%), South Korean (65%), and Japanese (64%) were most likely to be influenced by a bargain deal.
Asian also love to share photos on social media with India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia posting between 29 to 50 photos/videos a week while on vacation, way above the global average of 19 photos/videos.
Worldwide, Indian travellers posted the most pictures per week (50), followed by Singaporeans (37), and Americans (35).
A majority of respondents globally said they posted pictures to share their unique vacation experience with friends (58%) and to inspire them with beautiful images (53%). However, 18% are green-eyed monsters that cited making their friends jealous as a reason.
Asians love posting holiday photos on social media
Asians are also more likely to play the jealously game with Hong Kongers at the top (39%),followed by Thais (36%).
While selfies have become a must for the socially-connected, they only came in as the fourth most popular kind of snaps that beach vacationers share, with only 30% of respondents globally saying they would post selfies. The majority (79%) prefer sharing scenery shots, group/family photos (57%, and couple pictures (48%).
In the selfie area, Asians again trumped their Western counterparts with 53% of Thai beachgoers sharing selfies (the highest among all countries surveyed), while 40% of respondents from India, 38% of South Koreans, and 35% of Singaporeans doing the same.
Another revelation from the report places Facebook as the most-used social media platform for beachgoers globally, followed by Instagram and Twitter. Indians were the most avid Facebook users with 83% of respondents sharing their photos on the platform, followed by Thailand (82%), Brazil (79%) and Malaysia (75%).
Thais are the biggest Instagram fans with 34% of those surveyed sharing beach vacation photos/videos on the platform, compared to the global average of 11%.
The Flip Flop report also unveiled some interesting findings about Singaporean beach vacationers:
They love spa and massage treatments more than any other nationality, with one in two saying a rub down was a requisite on beach vacations.- 76% are headed for a beach holiday in the next 12 months, with 70% associating their overall happiness with regular beach vacations.
- Top three holiday indulgences: Eating more food than they usually would, spending more on food than they usually would, and indulging in spa treatments
- Top three sacrifices made for an extra beach vacation: A month’s gym membership, a week’s salary, and a month’s expenses on accessories/toiletries.
- Stress points on a beach holiday: Risk of theft (81%), quality of the hotel (76%), and their kids (75%).
Vikram Malhi, general manager for Expedia in Asia, said of the findings, “Asian travellers are not just booking their travel on their devices, they are also sharing their travel experiences and researching on mobile more readily than their Western counterparts. Mobile is a huge area of investment for Expedia, and the findings reinforce our aim to offer travellers a complete experience, from pre-booking to post-vacation, across devices.”
• The survey was conducted online from March 11 to April 2, 2014 by Northstar, a global research and consulting firm, and examines the behaviour and attitudes towards beach vacations among 11,165 respondents in 24 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and South America.
