GrabAds, the advertising arm of Southeast Asian (SEA) superapp, Grab, has released its latest SEA Travel Insights 2023 report, showing that intent to travel remains strong. Of those surveyed, 72% of Grab users plan to travel abroad at least once in the next 12 months, jumping from just 39% when borders reopened in 2022 indicating the travel intent has climbed by 84% in just one year. With the steady acceleration of travel demand, brands should take this as an opportunity to switch gears from short-term “revenge travel” campaigns to planning long-term repeat-customer strategies.
The report reveals additional insights into travel preferences, habits, and behaviours across the region.
- Families prioritise ‘stress-free’ options
Families represent one of the most significant audience segments for 2023 travel—86% of those who plan to travel plan at least one trip with others. But group travel is no small undertaking, especially with children – and while fun and games are all well and good, it’s clear that these family holidaymakers prioritise safety and convenience above all.
For example, when selecting their accommodation, top priorities among these travellers include family suites and connecting rooms (65%), child-friendly amenities (58%) and safety features such as child-proofing or secured balconies (48%). As such, travel advertisers can assure families they can leave their worries at the door and emphasise campaigns with “family-friendly” or “child-friendly” messaging to resonate better with family travellers.
- Business travel is back, with business travellers valuing safety and convenience
Business travellers also made up a significant proportion of respondents: 40% of those who plan to travel expect to take 4 business trips on average over the next 12 months (up 14% year-on-year). For this segment, top considerations for booking rooms included being close to public transport and restaurants (57%) and picking a safe neighbourhood (46%).
- No surprises – travellers shun uncertainty
After two years of disruption during the pandemic, travellers increasingly prefer to plan.
According to the report, 64% of respondents will start planning their itineraries at least one month in advance for long-haul journeys (6 to 16 hours). The figure hovers 55% for destinations 3 to 6 hours away and 51% for short haul (less than 3 hours). Almost half (47%) shared that their budgets are already fixed weeks before they step foot abroad. It’s worth noting that most travellers prefer to take charge of planning their own daily itineraries. In addition, 62% of travellers surveyed this year said they would buy travel insurance to cover their trips.
To capture the greater slice of the pie, travel brands should initiate marketing activities to influence travellers early during the discovery phase, when they’re still exploring and comparing their options.
- Brands shouldn’t miss out on building loyalty programs
A 2023 customer intelligence report revealed that 9 out of 10 consumers in the region prefer to shop when a brand offers a loyalty program. Yet, our research shows that two-thirds (78%) of Southeast Asians are not subscribed to any hotel loyalty programme. Considering that 73% of respondents plan an average of three leisure trips in the next 12 months, there’s undoubtedly room for repeat business.
This represents a huge opportunity to educate would-be travellers on hotel loyalty programs and associated benefits – for example, via gamified or rewarded campaigns with broad appeal and easy redemption mechanics.
Tapping into GrabAds’ hyperlocal insights to appeal to Southeast Asian travellers GrabAds can help travel brands stay ahead of these evolving travel preferences by connecting advertisers to Grab’s extensive first-party data. For example, GrabAds recently partnered with Mediabank Inc. to build a campaign for the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) to create awareness for travellers here to ‘Discover Another Side of Japan’ beyond the traditional tourist spots. Utilising Grab’s online-to-offline ecosystem and deep understanding of the Southeast Asian consumer, the campaign connected JTA to the many Grab users who rank Japan as a top international travel destination.
“Millions of Southeast Asians use Grab every day, creating a wealth of hyperlocal insights that enable brands and advertisers to build deep and meaningful connections with their consumers,” said Jennie Johnson, Head of Marketing, at GrabAds. “GrabAds data revealed a massive increase of 84% in international travel intent compared to just one year ago. Last year, brands may have focused on short-term impulse campaigns based on pent-up lockdown FOMO (fear of missing out) – but they now need to shift towards developing long-term relationships with savvy Southeast Asian travellers as they dream, plan, book and experience travel.”
She added: “It could be as simple as maintaining year-round communication with consumers or utilising online to offline channels to promote the latest offers. For example, the campaign we’ve built with Media Bank Inc. for the Japan Tourism Agency utilises our Grab fleet and app to creatively target users of our platform. At GrabAds, we look forward to working closely with travel and tourism brands to innovate and provide an exciting, dynamic travel experience for Southeast Asian jetsetters.”
