Visa-free countries, boutique hotels among top Asian travel trends
SENTOSA, Singapore — Travelers in Asia are mostly building their trips around boutique hotels in visa-free countries, according to the latest travel trends observed by marketing and booking sites.
Travel trends were among the topics discussed at the TravMedia Summit Asia 2024 held in Singapore's Sentosa island. The panel was moderated by Mastercard's Senior Vice President for Insights, Analytics, Consulting & Innovation Aditi Sawhney.
Speaking on the panel were Carma's Head of Marketing in Asia Divika Jethmal, Trip.com Singapore's General Manager Edmund Ong, and Marriott International's APEC Communications Vice President Ching Yee Wong.
All three panelists agreed that travel demand in the Asia-Pacific region is recovering but it is still below the global average, with only Japan and Vietnam reaching 100% pre-pandemic inbound arrival levels.
Wong noted that "travel was back," given the strong performance of the region during the second quarter of 2024, while Ong added countries offering visa-free travel was helped in rebooting industries.
The consensus on current travel trends show that people are willing to travel if they see a destination's value for money. They are also willing to extend trips by another day, as well as interested in traveling for experiences like concerts or sporting events.
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Jethmal shared social media data from media intelligence service provider Carma that showed that leading travel trends found people are building their trips around boutique hotels, luxury travel, bleisure (business and leisure) travel, solo travel, and tailored experiences.
Some smaller trends included retreat-like silent travel, traveling during off-season, and inter-city train holidays.
Ong said the most popular Asian destinations for the second half of the year based on Trip.com accommodations were Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.
A more recent study on Carma showed that the Philippines saw a good volume of social media conversations since the middle of September, along with Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia. The same result was found when logged into Google searches.
Some surprising forecasts include India becoming an even bigger market for tourist arrivals (in comparison to 2019 data) and Australia topping Japan as the top destination for Asians in 2025.
The panel did not rule out that experiences can have a huge impact, as evident by Taylor Swift's "Eras" tour concert in Singapore earlier this year.
At the time of the concert, Singapore's top arrivals were from the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand, and mid-tier hotels saw a huge increase in bookings.
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Wong predicted that hyper-personalized experiences that connect with local communities will be the new trend in the next five years, adding that "artificial intelligence can't replace the human touch."
To validate her point, Wong said 71% of hotel executives say improving personalization is a crucial need for strategic business planning.
Jethmal also pointed out that younger travelers are on social media, and it is where people should look when searching for travel trends.
A separate report from travel company Skift confirmed that the Asia-Pacific region is returning and still waiting for China to be completely back.
Skift's Asia Editor Peden Bhutia said 27% of solo travelers are between the ages of 55 and 65, something that brands can take into consideration since this age group has been noted to have traveled more frequently.
She added that younger travelers, specifically Gen Z and Millennials, are using artificial intelligence for travel destinations and planning.
