The Q2 Travel Healing Trend Report offers important insights into the interests of tourists during this still unsure time.
NB: This is a post from Expedia Group
Previously, we shared our findings about the North American and EMEA markets in the second quarter of the year, today lets see what the data informs us about travelers in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, and try to understand how these patterns compare to whats happening on a global scale and in other markets.
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Consistent Progress for Asia Pacific
In breaking news, the last months of 2021 look guaranteeing for APAC as Australia prepares to open its borders to global travel and the country resumes flights to Fiji, a destination that was popular with Australians pre-pandemic. Indonesia too prepares to open Bali this month to arrivals from feeder markets consisting of Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, while Singapore cautiously opens through such efforts as a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) with Germany. We do not yet see the level of need weve observed worldwide, specifically throughout North America or Europe, this momentum for the region constructs on constant progress made throughout Q2 during which general search volume increased just over 5% compared to Q1. Well see how these initiatives have actually impacted travel trends in the next edition of our Travel Recovery Trend Report.
Asia Pacific Ideal for Bucket List Travel
Australia, Fiji, and Bali represent the opportunity for travelers wanting to make up for lost travel time to turn a dream trip into truth. All 3 locations included as reactions in last years Where Next? project, which at the height of the pandemic asked our consumers where they will go when travel returns. The APAC region was well represented amongst our worldwide customer base with other container list locations pointed out, consisting of the Maldives, Japan, Thailand, and Tahiti.
This aspiration to travel far and wide might be seen in the development of searches for destinations throughout Asia Pacific from consumers based in feeder markets beyond the region. For example, searches from North America for APAC destinations during Q2 increased compared to the exact same period in 2020 and jumped a remarkable 56% from Q1 2021. This indicates the increasing confidence of just recently immunized tourists, loosening border restrictions and destinations– such as Phuket– structure strategies to re-open, spark, and manage need through the COVID-19 recovery.
Getting Back to the Beach
If not reserving huge cities– notably Seoul and Jeju City in APAC– worldwide customers chose seaside beach destinations throughout Q2. For Asia Pacific, this translated to reservations for Seogwipo, Busan, Naha and, in Australia, Sydney, Melbourne, and Surfers Paradise! Not a top-ten reserved location for the APAC region, Thailand saw searches for Phuket double quarter-on-quarter due to their tactical Sandbox re-opening initiative, which enabled completely vaccinated travelers back to their beaches without quarantine requirements.
Domestic and Local Destinations Preferred
This is supported by research study carried out by Expedia Group and Wakefield Research. According to the data, 53% of Japanese respondents and 75% of Australian participants suggested that they will take a trip in the next year. Of those, just 7% of participants in Japan and 26% of participants in Australia indicated that theyre most likely to travel globally.
Similar to what we saw in North America, there was an uptick in domestic searches made by APAC consumers 31-180 days ahead of time, and a minor reduction in searches made 0-21 days out. Taking a look at global searches, too, we see a shift in search habits quarter over quarter. For APAC tourists wanting to endeavor outside their house country, the biggest growth was for dates 31-60 days out, which saw a dive from simply over 10% to 15%. This shift in browsing a bit additional out of the date of travel signals a boost in self-confidence in the stability of travel. However, while New York made the list of top 10 booked destinations globally in other regions, it did not make the leading 10 for APAC, suggesting that APAC consumers are growing in self-confidence, however may not have felt comfortable in venturing too far just yet.
A Cautious Return to Travel
Likewise, its to be expected that the pandemic still weighs on tourists minds as they consider their options. According to the research, when it concerns reserving either a hotel or getaway rental, shoppers in Japan and Australia cared the most about improved cleaning procedures and the ability to get a complete refund if strategies alter.
Comparing which locations buyers searched for to where they really reserved, we can see that tourists chose smaller, more seaside cities. Specifically, while big cities such as Melbourne, Sydney, Seoul, and Tokyo topped the list when it comes to browse information, many tourists wound up reserving Seogwipo, a mid-sized seaside city in South Korea, instead. Its not surprising that, provided the unpredictable nature of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, traveler behavior has actually also been unpredictable.
Regardless, its clear that our advertising partners have a lot to believe about when thinking about methods to engage tourists during this unsure time. To read more about the patterns covered here, download the Q2 2021 Travel Recovery Trend Report. This in-depth report is based on over 300 petabytes of first-party Expedia Group data plus the current custom-made research.
Similarly for flight, participants– 31% in Australia and 24% in Japan– cared the most about the capability to get a complete refund if they canceled their journey. An interesting comparison is that the second-most essential factor to consider for travelers in Australia was low prices, while for tourists in Japan it was enhanced cleaning and disinfection procedures.
Find out more posts from Expedia Group
This aspiration to travel far and wide could be seen in the development of searches for destinations throughout Asia Pacific from customers based in feeder markets outside of the region. This shift in browsing a bit further out from the date of travel signals a boost in self-confidence in the stability of travel. According to the data, 53% of Japanese respondents and 75% of Australian participants indicated that they will take a trip in the next year. Of those, only 7% of participants in Japan and 26% of participants in Australia showed that theyre most likely to travel internationally.
Well see how these initiatives have actually affected travel trends in the next edition of our Travel Recovery Trend Report.
