Google’s Laura-Marie Arens on why APAC travelers are planning earlier, trusting unpolished videos, and skipping the usual hotspots.
We sat down with Laura-Marie Arens, Google’s Head of Travel Vertical Search APAC, to talk about a multi-layered question – are travellers ready to let AI take over their travel bookings? Google surveyed around 7,000 people across five APAC countries, and only 8% said yes to letting an agent handle payment. Arens thinks the tech isn’t the issue. As she puts it, “travel is a high value ticket item. It’s very dear to their heart, so it has to go right.” So, if people won’t let AI do the buying, what are they using it for? And what does it mean that APAC is now ahead of Europe and the US on AI adoption?
Watch the full interview:
Here’s something that might surprise you. Booking lead times in Southeast Asia have nearly doubled, from 46 days to 83. You’d think it’s nerves about pricing, but Arens sees something else going on. Travellers, she says, are “pre-living the trip,” and AI is picking up “the unglamorous part” so they can enjoy the fun stuff. Meanwhile, YouTube is now APAC’s number one source of travel inspiration, even in the age of the 15-second scroll. Why would anyone sit through a long video when short ones are everywhere? And what kind of video do viewers actually trust more, the polished hotel walkthrough, or something much rawer?
Then there’s where people are going, and for how long. Hotel searches for off-the-beaten-path spots are climbing faster than the big-name destinations, and trips are getting shorter while hotel stays stay the same. What’s behind that? We also asked Arens which travel search habit we all rely on today will look primitive in five years. Her answer involves a very specific number of hotel options that travellers say is “enough,” and it might change how you plan your next trip.
