Travel plans and optimism continue to rise in Asia

Photo by Thanakorn Phanthura

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an exceptionally difficult challenge for the travel industry, exacerbated by its impact occurring across all markets. Travel brands and marketers face challenges in creating travel experiences with their customers and clients while simultaneously complying with health precautions

While COVID-19 is expected to continue having an impact on travel plans, Criteo’s latest Travel Data for Q1 2021 has revealed that air travel is expected to improve more quickly in the Americas and Asia Pacific than in EMEA, and with domestic flights recovering faster than international flights.

In fact, according to Criteo’s findings, 86%, 65% and 89% of respondents from Australia, South Korea, and Japan, respectively, say they are likely to make an online booking for domestic travel.

One year after the first outbreak of COVID-19, air bookings remain low at -36% in April 2021. However, this is a 12-point increase from -48% in January 2021. Criteo’s data also found that travel players with a booking app have seen app usage grow especially in APAC, where app sales account for 77% of bookings, followed by mobile at 13% and desktop at 10%.

“For marketers and travel players, it is important to know that the priorities of travelers are two-fold – the ability to fully refund on bookings if travel plans are disrupted, and secondly, that social distancing and the highest levels of sanitation are ensured. According to our survey, travelers said that they are more likely to book travels if bookings are fully refundable and travelers reported the importance of social distancing and sanitation measures amid the ongoing pandemic,” explained Singh.

“Understanding this, travel players can take action by providing consumers with longer-term options, and safer, socially-distanced stays. Also, travel providers should leverage consumer preferences for apps to create an engaging app experience to encourage usage and sales,” he continued.