Arival | What Your Customers Want: Asia Pacific

© Copyright 2019 Arival LLC, All Rights Reserved
What Your Customers Want:
Asia Pacific
Arival, Bangkok
June 24-26, 2019

What Your Customers Want:
Asia Pacific
Presented in partnership with
WYSE Travel Confederation and its New
Horizons study of the global youth
travel marketplace.

Arival advances the
business of creating
amazing in-destination
experiences through
events, insights and
community for creators
and sellers of Tours,
Activities & Attractions.
Learn more at
www.arival.travel

WYSE Travel Confederation is the only global not-for-profit
membership organization representing the entire youth, student and
educational travel industry. The organization promotes the youth
travel industry and provides members with business development
tools in the areas of trading, research, education and advocacy. WYSE
members comprise the world’s most powerful and extensive network
of professionals working in youth and student travel.
Learn more at www.wysetc.org

New Horizons is the only recurring global survey of the youth,
student and educational travel market. Started in 2002 and
conducted once every five years, the aim of the New Horizons
survey is to provide an overview of the under-30 travel market
and provide insights to travel agents, suppliers, destination
marketers, policymakers and other stakeholders of the travel
and tourism industry.
The fourth wave of the New Horizons survey attracted 57,000+
responses from 188 countries and territories between June and
November 2017. Findings from all waves of the New Horizons
Survey have been published by WYSE Travel Confederation and
are available online at www.wysetc.org
About New Horizons

Methodology:
Arival partnered with WYSE Travel Confederation to compile
and analyze responses to the New Horizons survey that
pertained to Asia Pacific destinations. This report represents
4,000 travelers aged 18 to 30 who traveled to a destination in
Asia Pacific. Findings pertain to the traveler’s most recent trip
(in 2017) and are grouped by traveler’s region of origin (e.g.
Europe represents respondents from Europe who took a trip
to Asia Pacific.)

What this report covers:
1. Who is the youth active travel and what
do they do in-destination?
2. What do they want: classic attractions or
local experiences?
3. How do they plan and book activities?

Who Are They?
Who is that youth traveler
who engages in a tour,
activity or attraction when
traveling to Asia? Does
something set that traveler
apart?
Who is that traveler?

That traveler
is everyone

The vast majority of young travelers
to Asia engage in activities, and most
engage in multiple activities on the
same trip (see next page).
Note: The overall lower percentages for travelers from Asia
does not mean fewer Asian travelers engage in activities.
Rather, this correlates to a shorter average trip length. Most
intra-Asia trips are short-haul trips, while travelers from the
U.S., Europe and Oceania are likely to take much longer trips.

What Travelers Do in Asia
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Shopping Tours Sites/
landmarks
Food
festivals
Walking/
hiking
Museums Cultural
events
Wildlife/
nature
Sports/
adventure
Music
festivals
Sporting
events
Asia Europe N. A. Oceania

What this means for
operators:
Most tour and attraction operators view
other in-market operators as competition.
However, travelers typically do multiple
activities. Operators should look to form
partnerships, and co-market each other’s
activities.

What Travelers Want:
Tours, Attractions or
Experiences?

This has been one of the big questions
in the in-destination industry:
What do travelers
really want?

Or the iconic tourist attractions?
The Forbidden City, BeijingThe Sky Tower, Tokyo

WYSE asked youth travelers what’s
most important to them:
Icons or Local Experiences?

More travelers say iconic attractions are
important, but many value experiences as well.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Asia
Europe
N. A.
Oceania

In other words,
there’s room for both

So how does a classic operator
step into local experiences?
Offer something “insidery”
1. Special access, such as a backstage pass
2. A special treat travelers can only get with
you
3. “Let me try” experiences, such as giving
your guests a chance at bat

But don’t lose sight of what matters most
Two of the three most popular
activities are tours and classic
sites and landmarks.
Even local experience
marketplaces recognize this
and are designing experiences
around the top attractions.
See the first listing in Bangkok
from Withlocals at right.

How Youth Travelers Plan & Book
Digital channels have
overtaken traditional offline
channels as sources of
information for general
travel planning, and tours &
activities, while trailing
online, are catching up
quickly with mobile.

Digital Channels Are Driving General Trip Planning,
Especially for Asian Travelers
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Travel agency
Printed guidebooks
Tourist information office
Airlines, hotels, etc.
Social media
Review websites
Online travel agencies and
comparison websites
Asia
Europe
N. A.
Oceania

More travelers are
booking flights and
accommodation online,
while digital tour
booking trails. However,
this won’t last long, and
some regions are
moving faster than
others.
Tour Booking Is Still More Offline
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Tours
Accommo
-dation
Flights
Booking Method by Product (All Travelers)
Computer
Mobile
In person

Asian Travelers Lead in
Digital Tour Booking
While many U.S. and
European youth travelers
continue to book tours
offline, less than 5% of Asian
travelers said they booked
their tours offline. And more
of them booked via their
phones. (See next slide.)

Tour Booking Method by Region
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
In person
Mobile
Computer
Asia
Europe
North America
Oceania

What this means for
operators:
1) Different channels for different customers:
While digital channels will continue to gain ground,
different traveler segments continue to use different
channels. Operators must understand their distinct
customer segments and their booking habits.
2) Digital and mobile will define our future
and also drive more last-minute advance bookings.
Operators must be mobile ready and, as much as possible,
shorten advance purchase booking minimums.

Get More Insights on
Tours, Activities &
Attractions from
The Global Youth
Travel Market from
www.wysetc.org

Arival | What Your Customers Want: Asia Pacific

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Arival | What Your Customers Want: Asia Pacific

Similar to Arival | What Your Customers Want: Asia Pacific (20)

More from Arival

More from Arival (15)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Arival | What Your Customers Want: Asia Pacific