With the gradual resumption of travel and easing of restrictions in numerous countries there is a rising interest in short haul trips post-pandemic among travellers in the Asia Pacific region (APAC).
For those considering travel plans after Covid, around 30% would like to take a trip within the next three months, according to the Trip.com Group x Google Travel Trends Report that Trip.com and Google will jointly produce.
In presenting a sneak preview of the report at the recent Trip.com Group ‘Travel On’ campaign event, Wilson Wu, head of industry, online travel agency at Google China, said that data on the current travel demand in APAC on Trip.com platform shows over 70% of the consumers are looking for short haul trips within the region.
The research, which centred on APAC markets, integrated three different sources – Google survey data, Google Trends and Trip.com Business Insights data – to provide a detailed snapshot of how consumers are responding to the evolving dynamics within the travel industry, as well as the expected trends for travel over the coming months.
Breaking down this data into travel destinations Wu said the top 20 short haul destinations for upcoming trips are Bangkok, Seoul, Shanghai, Jeju, Tokyo, Bali, Manila, Busan, Xi’an, Kuala Lumpur, Osaka, Penang, Da Nang, Bintan, Taipei, Singapore, Pattaya, Hong Kong, Phuket and Macau.
The report also looks at the top destinations by travel themes. APAC consumers specifically seek vacation trips to Bali, Cairns, Paris, Sydney, and Bangkok, being the top five. For family holidays they searched for Dubai, Los Angeles, Paris, San Francisco and London.
The five popular destinations for outdoor adventures are Banff, Abu Dhabi, Marrakech, Rio de Janeiro and Fiji. For new trending destinations they are are Casablanca, Lima, Tunis, Buenos Aires and Reunion Island. (see charts below)
in light of the uncertainties experienced over the past few months, the report focused on understanding the top concerns of consumers when planning for their next trip. Based on survey data, there are three offerings consumers value the most.
Number one, free cancellations are by far the most important offering for consumers versus everything else. On average, 57% of the consumers considered this as a key motivator for their next booking. Second, 27% of the consumers care about the pre sale promotional offers, and third 25% of the consumers value insurance coverage.
“With the onset of the pandemic the entire world is facing an unprecedented level of uncertainty. The normal dynamics of the travel business have been completed up-ended, and this is definitely not an easy time for many of us,” said Wu. “But even in the middle of this global crisis there are opportunities to bounce back and innovate towards the new normal.”
He gave three key recommendations to help companies get started on the road to business revival. “First of all, capture the recovery demand now, not later. Secondly, offer products and services that allow flexible features. Last but not least, keep monitoring the trends.”
Google with Trip.com will be co-publishing the full version of the report in early Q3 2020.