- Increasing in the travel spending: Many destinations benefitted from favorable exchange rates, while others became more expensive, but saw their purchasing power abroad increase. China continued to report double-digit growth in outbound travel, benefitting Japan, Thailand, the US and various European destinations. One of the emerging markets, India, reported also double-digit growth in tourism expenditure.
- Millennials: An affluent generation, tech-savvy and more socially connected, this segment of travellers is expected to become bigger and more important
- Business and leisure: Business travel in Asia, in general, is on the rise. Asia Pacific will gain another five per cent market share while the US and Western Europe will lose three per cent and two per cent respectively. Business travel is expected to continue to grow, along with the trend of more corporate travellers extending their business trips to add leisure travel with their families.
- Loyalty programmes: Signing up for rewards programmes is one of the ways to save on travel. A recent survey reveals that over 50 per cent of respondents in Asia enrolled in loyalty programmes, valued free products, gift certificates or cash rebates.
- Reviews: Expert travellers read and write reviews, and have become an integral part of the hotel booking process. Through reviews, travellers can choose properties based on their ranking in categories such as convenience, service, comfort and cleanliness.
- Mobile bookings: Travellers can get everything they need through the mobile devices.
- Personalized travel experiences: Travellers are using numerous tools to customize their journeys. This includes adding local services such as transportation options, providing directions, ways to purchase events tickets and tools for sharing personal experiences, such as pictures and real time reviews.
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