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The online path to purchase for Asia Pacific travelers

Our custom research explores the online path to purchase for Asia Pacific travelers to uncover actionable insights for your business.

author
Michael Dykes

To provide partners with actionable insights on how to reach, inspire, and convert travelers during the online travel shopping journey, we worked with Luth Research on a custom study that explores the online path to purchase and traveler behavior insights across seven geographic markets. The research was conducted using digital tracking data from a panel of 70,000+ travelers and survey data from more than 5,700 respondents.

 

We’ve shared key global findings and now we’re doing a deeper dive into travelers from Asia Pacific (APAC) based on digital tracking data from a panel of more than 17,800 travelers and survey data from more than 1,640 respondents across Australia and Japan. Read on for more APAC travel insights to help you reach and convert APAC travelers throughout the online travel purchase journey.


Planning window and trip length varies


When looking at the time spent for trip planning and overall trip length, Australian and Japanese travelers have notable differences. Australian travelers take trips lasting 11.1 days on average, compared to 3.4 days for Japanese travelers — both deviating from the global average of 8.8 days.* 

 

Japanese travelers have a short planning window at 45 days and book just 45 days before trip start. At 73 days, Australian travelers have a significantly longer planning window compared to Japanese travelers, and they book 91 days prior to trip start, longer than the 73 day global average.

Adjust targeting based on regional differences


Since Japanese and Australian travelers plan and travel in different ways, make sure that you adjust your strategies for connecting with these travelers accordingly. Leverage insights on when travelers are searching and booking to better target travelers in these regions.


Japanese travelers consume more content than average


Content continues to play a starring role in the path to purchase, indicating the importance of using compelling copy and visuals across property listings, ads, social media, and more. 

 

In the 45 days prior to booking a trip, travelers from APAC view 149 pages of travel content (compared to 141 pages, on average) and spend 298 minutes with travel content. Japanese travel content consumption is higher than the global average, with Japanese travelers viewing 208 pages and spending 398 minutes with travel content. This makes Japanese travelers some of the highest consumers of travel content, despite their shorter planning windows. On the other hand, Australians consume less travel content than average, viewing 91 pages of travel content and spending 229 minutes with travel content in the 45 days before booking.   

 

While APAC travelers visit many online resources throughout the travel research process, online travel agencies (OTAs) are a particularly popular resource, especially for Japanese travelers, as 90% of them visited an OTA during their path to purchase. 

Reach travelers through OTAs


APAC travelers turn to OTAs to be inspired, plan, and research options, even if they ultimately book elsewhere. Since OTA usage in APAC is high, make sure that your brand is showing up on our platform, which brings together millions of properties, billions of bookable airline seats, and thousands of car rentals, cruises, and activities to help you attract more travelers.

Japanese travelers view 208 pages of travel content in the 45 days prior to booking a trip.

APAC travelers are open to destination inspiration


Early in the path to purchase, destination flexibility in Australian travelers is higher compared to their Japanese counterparts. Before selecting where to go on their trip, more than half (56%) of Australian travelers did not have a specific place in mind or considered multiple options, indicating that they are open to destination inspiration. 

 

Japanese travelers, however, are more determined on where to go, as only 38% were undecided on a destination. While many Japanese travelers have their mind set on a particular place, this does not mean they aren’t open to inspiration, as 76% of those who used social media for travel planning said they used it for destination inspiration.

Reach travelers that are open to destination inspiration


There are numerous opportunities to get in front of travelers and influence booking decisions while they are determining where to go. Leveraging visual-led creative advertising solutions or native advertising can help your business stand out from the competition and elevate your content with travelers throughout their travel shopping journey.


Advertising is impactful for Japanese travelers


Marketing plays an important role throughout the path to purchase, from inspiration to booking. On average, 19% of travelers from APAC said advertising influenced their booking decisions, on par with the global average. However, in Japan, travelers are even more likely to be influenced by brand storytelling, as 26% of Japanese travelers said they were influenced by marketing when booking a trip.


26%

of Japanese travelers were influenced by advertising when booking a trip.



When asked about impactful advertising, 55% of APAC travelers — and as many as 59% of travelers from Japan — said ads with beautiful imagery were influential. Content highlighting promotions or deals is influential for 35% of APAC travelers, which is notably lower than the global average of 46%.

Leverage eye-catching imagery in your advertising


When promoting your offerings to travelers from APAC, consider leading with engaging imagery or content spotlighting beautiful locales or interesting experiences. Our TravelAds Sponsored Listings increase visibility for your property and enable you to use custom professional photography and copy to appeal to travelers and their interests — capture their attention with a photo of your sparkling infinity pool or draw them in with information about the great year-round weather and proximity to top attractions.  


Loyalty plays an influential role


Membership and perks are another driving factor that influences travelers’ booking decisions. Approximately half of Australian travelers are members of a loyalty program, and of those travelers, 73% feel it’s important to book with a brand that they are a member with. Additionally, 51% would pay more to book with a brand they’re a loyalty member with. 

 

Similarly, 73% of Japanese loyalty program members also find it important to book with brands they’re affiliated with and 65% would pay more to do so. However, only 25% of Japanese travelers are loyalty members, revealing a strong opportunity for growth in this region.

Promote loyalty offerings


To appeal to travelers looking to maximize their loyalty benefits when booking, promote your loyalty perks in your content and channels, and offer exclusive discounts, perks, and points for loyal travelers wherever they are booking. With our One Key rewards program, you can increase demand from high-value travelers by giving them the flexibility to earn and use rewards spanning various trip types across Expedia®, Hotels.com®, and Vrbo®.  

For more APAC travel insights, download the country snapshots for Australia and Japan, and read the full Path to Purchase study for more global findings.

Offer One Key members the ability to earn and use rewards when booking with you.

Research & Insights

Download Asia Pacific country snapshots

Download the Australia and Japan country snapshots to learn more about the online shopping journey for Asia Pacific travelers and read the full Path to Purchase report for additional global insights.



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Michael Dykes, Vice President, Market Management APAC

Michael Dykes

Vice President, Market Management APAC

 

Michael has lived and worked in Asia for over 20 years, currently leading the team who manages Expedia Group’s lodging inventory across Asia Pacific. In this role, he works with lodging supply partners to maximize their success and potential on the Expedia Group platform and stay ahead of digital innovation. Prior to joining Expedia Group in 2015, Michael worked at Microsoft Japan as a Director of Corporate Accounts.



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