Millennials are changing the face of travel, with new approaches to exploring the world and sharing their experiences with others. The result has been a rapid evolution in the way travel providers market their offerings and respond to customer needs, according to Hotels.com, the global hotel reservations operator.
"Bucket list", "spontaneous" and "pop culture" are expressions that sum up some of the trends influenced by younger travellers in Asia, says Jessica Chuang, the company's regional marketing director for Greater China, Southeast Asia and India.
The bucket list refers to places that people want to see or activities they want to try. Destinations that offer unique attractions and ambience, along with must-do activities, can thrive by promoting them.
Spontaneous, last-minute bookings are also on the rise, thanks mainly to the ease of planning a trip online. Hotels.com has found that more than 60% of Thai people make their travel bookings just hours or days before they go. Pop culture, meanwhile, is a growing influence, with many travellers choosing a destination based on a movie they have seen or because they are fans of musicians from that country.
The tourism industry will rely increasingly on these trends as online reservations drive travel sentiment, says Ms Chuang, adding that Hotels.com is showcasing the fun and quirky side of its brand to broaden its appeal.
That is evident in a new campaign featuring Pug, a canine brand ambassador who beats out several other animals for the mascot job in an audition video that has attracted half a million views on YouTube.
"We want to give our customers a one-of-a-kind experience when they use Hotels.com and remind them that we are the obvious choice the next time they're booking accommodations online, while still emphasising choices with reliable service offerings, savings and a loyalty rewards system that keeps on giving," she says.
When travellers enjoy their experience -- or when a dream vacation turns into a nightmare -- word spreads very fast in the social media age. That's another key consideration for service providers.
According to Carolyn Childs, the co-founder of MyTravelResearch.com, research by the booking company Amadeus shows that 64% of travellers in Asia Pacific are open to sharing their information, especially Indonesians (80%). However, 69% of Japanese are not.
In its study entitled "The Journey of Me", Amadeus found that the top sources of influence on travel purchases were online booking sites, friends, family, work colleagues, and traveller reviews.
The research found that travellers had three emotive and practical needs while on the road: accessing maps and location information, sharing pictures with family and friends, and letting people know they were safe. That's why Facebook, Google, WhatsApp, Twitter and the like command such loyalty -- they meet their needs anywhere.
Travellers also wanted the right recommendations through the right channels at the right time, be it by email, chat or social media.
"If brands can surprise and delight customers, then loyalty is more likely," says Ms Childs. However, only 14% of the travellers in the Amadeus study said that a travel service provider had never exceeded their expectations. Only hotels at 24% or booking sites at 23% were likely to delight.
The key takeaway from all this is, she says, is that if organisations want loyalty they should look at the customer experience holistically and identify any friction points (such as payment confusion, lack of contact after booking, and so on) and aim to remove them.
According to Harvard Business Review, smoothing the path to purchase ensures more effective conversion of prospects to customers, leading to better financial performance through high customer retention.
Evidence shows that customers on a frictionless path become advocates for the brand through social media and word of mouth, adds Ms Childs.
No holiday is complete without a selfie, a survey by Hotels.com has found. Courtesy of Hotels.com
'TRAVEL BRAGGING'
Recent research from the Hotels.com Mobile Travel Tracker has identified the millennial trend of "travel bragging" on social media as another big influencer.
Thai millennials spend hours per day on social media to stay connected with friends (80%), upload pictures (67%) and check in at cool places (64%) to show off.
Daniel Craig, vice-president for mobile at Hotels.com, said the Mobile Travel Tracker survey demonstrated the increasing importance of mobile devices to millennial Thai travellers. Almost 100% of them feel that smartphones make them more spontaneous when they are on a trip.
Over 60% feel that mobile devices allow them to book more trips and hotel stays than ever before, and they also feel that mobile phones are their primary source for finding information, he said.
Top three components of travel that millennials book or search via mobile applications are hotels (94%), flights (72%) and searching for local restaurants (61.8%).
Their favourite mobile applications are social media (87.6%), travel apps (70%) and mapping apps (60.8%). The top three social media channels for Thai millennials are Facebook (95.8%), Line (87.6%) and Instagram (76.2%).
What do social-savvy travellers brag about? Selfies (66%), food (66%) and landmark photos (66%) top the list for Thais, followed by photos with friends, families and loved ones (57%) and beach photos (54.6%).
Their stories and the way they look on social media are key concerns for 18- to 29-year-old Thai travellers as over half (54.6%) admit they would rather visit a destination if it was great for social media posts.
Hotels.com found the top five cities for Thai travellers in 2016 were Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Osaka and Seoul. Paris, which ranked seventh in 2015, relinquished its top-10 position in 2016. London slipped two places to 10th and was the only non-Asian city.
RISE OF THE BOTS
On the technology side, practical applications for artificial intelligence are finding their way into many service industries and travel is no exception. Booking.com has expanded a pilot version of its new service and support chatbot, Booking Assistant, now available for English-language bookings worldwide.
The chatbot offers first-line support for bookings, including timely responses to customers' most common stay-related requests, all through a single intuitive interface.
Based on data from 19,000 travellers in 26 countries, Booking.com says 50% of consumers don't mind if they deal with a real person or a computer, as long as their questions are answered. Therefore, as a hybrid chatbot experience, human backup is always available within the interface.
Traveloka, meanwhile, is raising its profile among millennial and family travellers throughout Southeast Asia by funding the popular Asia's Got Talent competition for the first time this year. The Indonesia-based company established a Bangkok office two years ago and has sought alliances with hotels and resorts, airlines, entertainment and show groups. Its Bangkok office is competing with major sites such as Agoda.com, Booking.com and Expedia.
"Tourism in Asia will continue to grow. Thailand is one of most important markets for us thanks to over 33 million arrivals per year, high purchasing power and an attractive destination," said Christian Suwarna, senior vice-president for business development at Traveloka.
In terms of revenue and market size, Indonesia is still the company's largest market, followed by Thailand. The Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore and Vietnam are growing.
Traveloka started expanding in 2015 and now has a presence in six countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines -- making it the largest online travel company in the region.
It has established partnerships with more than 100 domestic and international airlines, serving more than 200,000 routes throughout Asia Pacific and Europe. Traveloka has listed more than 300,000 hotels in 28 countries.