LUNAR New Year, traditionally a busy travel period for some Asian markets, will likely look different next year, with the pandemic looking nowhere close to being overcome. Domestic travel will be the saving grace for the industry, as Sojern’s insights show.
Sojern’s latest insights capture key APAC markets with the strongest Lunar New Year seasonality – Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
The summary of insights:
1. Demand is predominantly for domestic stays, with the exception of Hong Kong, where more than 50% are looking at international travel.
2. Popular dates are largely between Feb 11 (Thurs) to Feb 14 (Sun). There is also a surge observed for the subsequent weekend.
3. At least 40% of travellers start searching a month prior to Lunar New Year, but Thailand and Malaysia are exceptions.
4. In Hong Kong, more than 10% of travellers are looking to stay for at least four days.
Based on the current insights, Sojern makes the following recommendations:
1. Launch your campaign at least one month prior to Lunar New Year to effectively capitalise on demand. Upweight two weeks before Lunar New Year for the final push
2. Consider running two types of promotions/packages: one for the most popular period (11 to 14 Feb), and the other to encourage longer stays of more than three days to fill up your rooms
3. Focus on domestic travellers, except for Hong Kong.
For more insights and data, click here.
