The survey, commissioned by AsiaRooms.com and in partnership with research firm VisionOne UK, shows Asia had the highest proportion of respondents having gone online to book for leisure and business accommodation at 70.3%. (Picture shows Nikoi Island, Bintan)
This compares to a global average of 63.2%; Europe at 63.2%; and Latin America at 51.6%. Within Asia, China had the highest proportion of direct online bookings at 57.5% of respondents, followed closely by Singapore at 57.4% and India at 55% of respondents respectively.
Asian travellers were also the least sensitive to cost with only 29% of respondents in Asia citing cost savings as the key determinant influencing their online bookings. This compares to the global average of 34%; 30.3% in Latin America; and 39.3% in Europe.
Spending and room booking results also reveal a disparity in confidence mirroring the ongoing economic uncertainty in the European and US markets relative to Asia’s strength. Travellers in Asia lead spending with 65.5 index points versus 62.9 points in Latin America, 53.3 points in Europe, and 49.3 points in the US.
Singapore led the Asia-Pacific region for overseas leisure travel with a propensity index score of 67.9 points versus Malaysia at 48.3 points, China at 62.8 points, and a global average of 61.4 points.
AsiaRooms.com Traveller Confidence Index (TCI) is aimed at tracking leading indicators for travel propensity, spending confidence, and regional momentum to provide meaningful insights into the travel trends of both consumers and businesses from a demand perspective.
It surveyed about 15,000 travellers worldwide during the first quarter of 2012. The survey topics focused on respondents’ travel experiences, online booking behaviour, spending and propensity for future bookings.
Other findings were:
• Latin America Most Bullish for Expected Accommodation Bookings, Followed by Asia
Travellers from Latin America are the most bullish in terms of expected travel accommodation bookings in 2012, leading all other regions with 66.7 index points. This is followed closely by Asia at 61.4 index points, and Europe trailing a large gap at 55.9 index points. Latin America and Asia are the only two regions to surpass the global average of 60.8 index points.
Latin America also leads in all travel categories surveyed, and specifically in domestic (in-country) and leisure travel propensity at 72.5 and 70.6 index points respectively. In contrast, domestic (in-country) and leisure travel propensity in Asia scored 64.7 and 64.6 index points respectively.
• US and Europe Show Weakness in Business Travel
Business travellers from Europe and the US were the most pessimistic in terms of travel propensity with 51.8 and 49.8 index points respectively, against the global average of 57.1 index points. Asia and Latin America were ahead of the mean at 58.1 and 62.8 index points respectively.
Similarly, business travellers from Europe and the US expect to spend the least in 2012, with 53.1 and 49.3 index points respectively, against the global average of 62 points.
Managing director of AsiaRooms.com Andrew Pumphrey said the company’s commitment towards its customers led to the development of this travel index, “allowing us and our partners to better respond to the uniqueness of each region’s travellers”.
The survey covered 29 major travel markets in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region including Japan and Korea, and Oceania.
About The Index
The AsiaRooms.com Traveller Confidence Index was commissioned by AsiaRooms.com and conducted by VisionOne UK, an independent market research firm. About 15,000 participants worldwide contributed to the index findings, comprising more than 500 respondents from 29 major travel markets worldwide, including the Americas, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and Oceania. Respondents were aged 18 and older, and had used the internet at least once in the past 12 months to search for travel accommodation options. 25 response datasets were used for 2012.
The index is calculated via an assigned value on a scale from 0 to 100, with 100 being the most positive response, and 0 being the least positive response. 50 is the assigned value for neutral responses.
