Big leap – OTAs now deliver nearly 1 in 5 bookings
New research from Arival reveals that online travel agencies (OTAs) now account for 18% of all attraction ticket bookings globally, more than doubling their pre-pandemic share of less than 10%. The report, The State of Visitor Attractions, highlights a major shift in distribution for cultural sites, museums, amusement parks, and other attractions over the past five years. Despite this growth, offline sales remain the dominant channel, and technological limitations persist – one in three attractions still lack a modern online ticketing system and do not have digital connectivity to reseller partners.
Douglas Quinby, co-founder and CEO of Arival, emphasized the ongoing challenges in integrating attractions into global travel distribution. “Traveler demand to see the great sites is boundless, but the availability of tickets, and the travel industry’s technical ability to access them is not,” he said. He noted that major OTAs have invested heavily in offering attraction tickets, sometimes “in spite of – rather than in partnership with – the attractions themselves.”
Thailand’s ‘White Lotus’ travel moment is only just beginning
Thailand already experienced a surge in travel demand ahead of HBO’s The White Lotus Season 3 premiere on February 16, which was filmed in Koh Samui, Chiang Mai, and Phuket. Since the announcement of Thailand as the setting last spring, flight searches have spiked year over year – Chiang Mai (up 65%), Phuket (up 45%), and Koh Samui (up 30%), according to Expedia. Hotels.com recorded a 40% increase in searches for Koh Samui following HBO’s teaser release in December 2024, while Vrbo reported a staggering 115% jump in vacation rental searches. Via Forbes, Anahat Arora, Sales Director at the InterContinental Phuket Resort, noted an “18% increase in bookings from the U.S. market,” anticipating “a surge in interest” for luxury travel.
After previous White Lotus seasons in Hawaii and Sicily, Expedia recorded a 300% increase in searches for those destinations within 90 days of their premieres. The Four Seasons brand is also capitalizing on the show’s influence, having partnered with HBO to ensure its properties remain central to the series. This season, Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui serves as the main filming location, following the precedent set by Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea and San Domenico Palace in Sicily.
Short-term rental platform Guesty revealed a 494.87% surge in reservations and a 27.58% increase in Annual Nightly Rate (ANR) just two days post-premiere, signaling strong demand. According to Guesty, if past seasons are any indication, the real travel spike happens in the 90 days post-premiere, when travellers turn ‘binge-spiration into bookings’.
AirAsia Rewards takes off with expanded loyalty
AirAsia Rewards has introduced a plug-and-play loyalty solution designed to help businesses, particularly SMEs, enhance customer engagement and retention through streamlined rewards programs. The first brand to leverage this solution is MILK Baby Diapers, marking an expansion of AirAsia Rewards’ ecosystem. This partnership allows MILK customers to earn and redeem AirAsia points, while integrating seamlessly into the AirAsia MOVE app.
By joining AirAsia Rewards, MILK Baby Diapers gains access to a broader audience while strengthening its position as an industry disruptor. John Teoh, Chief Commercial Officer of Flying Baby Sdn. Bhd., stated that integrating with AirAsia MOVE enables them to “reward our loyal customers more effectively while reaching a broader audience within the vibrant AirAsia ecosystem.” With loyalty programs becoming a competitive advantage, AirAsia Rewards’ scalable solution offers SMEs an way to drive customer retention.
TripAdvisor turns to experiences as primary growth engine
Tripadvisor Group reported record revenue in 2024, driven largely by the experiences category, which has become its primary growth engine. Viator contributed 46% of total company revenue, and is expected to be the largest revenue driver in 2025. CEO Matt Goldberg emphasised that experiences are now “the strategic and financial center of gravity of the Group,” and the company will increase marketing efforts to grow awareness. Tripadvisor also expanded its AI strategy, partnering with Perplexity for improved trip planning and OpenAI’s “Operator” tool for booking. Goldberg sees these collaborations as crucial for Tripadvisor’s long-term positioning in AI-driven travel, noting that early results show “high intent” traffic.
Financially, Tripadvisor’s Q4 revenue reached $411 million, up 5% year over year, though adjusted EBITDA fell 13% to $73 million due to increased marketing costs. Full-year revenue hit $1.8 billion, a 3% rise, with Viator’s revenue nearing $840 million and gross bookings reaching $4.2 billion, up nearly 12%. Brand Tripadvisor, however, saw an 8% decline in revenue. The company also announced a $435 million acquisition of Liberty Tripadvisor Holdings, expected to close in Q2 2025, and a restructuring plan to cut costs and improve efficiency, with anticipated expenses of up to $11 million in early 2025. CFO Mike Noonan stated the company’s 2025 strategy “lays the foundation for long-term growth in revenue and profit.”
(via Phocuswire)
APAC turns up the airfare competition
The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has become the most competitive aviation market globally in 2025, surpassing its 2019 total capacity by 0.5%, according to OAG’s latest report called ‘Is Asia Pacific the World’s Most Competitive Aviation Market?’. Domestic air travel has been a key driver of this recovery, with overall domestic capacity now 4.7% above pre-pandemic levels. China and India have led this growth, increasing their domestic capacity by 14% and 13%, respectively. Meanwhile, Japan and Indonesia have surpassed 100 million domestic seats. However, Japan’s domestic capacity remains 4% below 2019 levels, while Indonesia faces a more significant shortfall of 17%, largely due to supply chain issues that have left 27% of the country’s aircraft in maintenance or storage.
International air travel in APAC is also rebounding, with 594.8 million international seats available, making it the world’s second-largest international aviation market. Notably, Singapore Airlines has exceeded its 2019 capacity by 14.1%, while Scoot and EVA Airways have increased their capacity by 13.8% and 4.5%, respectively. These airlines are among the few APAC carriers to have surpassed pre-pandemic international capacity levels.
Increased competition has led to a significant decline in airfares across the region, with average ticket prices dropping in 17 of the 20 largest growth markets. Some routes have seen price reductions of over 20%, with the Bangkok-to-Shanghai Pudong route experiencing an exceptional 71% year-on-year drop.
Header image credit: Four Seasons Resort, Koh Samui, Thailand
