Northstar

TRAVEL WEEKLY ASIA I T B A S I A S H O W D A I L I E S www.travelweekly-asia.com 20 17 OC TOBER 2018 The growing needs of travellers in Asia Pacific When compared to their global counterparts, citizens in some Asia Pacific markets are travelling abroad more frequently. A report Why data is important When it comes to travel, there are recurrent factors that we can easily predict. April is usually the cherry blossom season in Japan, which explains why it is always a busy time for inbound travellers to Japan. December, meanwhile, is always a peak travel period because of the Christmas and New Year Eve. However, there are many other variables contributing to travel traffic to and from destinations, such as changes to visa policies and trending pop culture events. That's why we are always examining our data to identify any deviations or sudden changes in the traffic – whether it's a surge or plunge – to unearth new business opportunities and best respond to the changing needs of travellers around the world. WHEN'S THE BEST TIME TO MARKET TRAVEL PRODUCTS? By Mike Ferguson, Principal Commercial Manager, Skyscanner Asia-Pacific At Skyscanner, we see data as our DNA. It is the bedrock of our analytics, helps us to identify latest trends and traveller behaviour, and gives us inspiration for everything that we do - from developing a new handy app feature for consumers, to inventing a brand-new tool for our thousands of airlines and OTA partners. By analysing airfare trends over the past two years, data can help us to identify whether flights to a particular destination will become more expensive. By looking at recent surges in search volumes or bookings, we can see which places are going to become new hotspots. And, by zooming into historic airfare variations around holiday periods, we can reveal that cheapest dates to fly around major events. Data can also tell us about emerging markets and peak travel periods, which helps brands in the travel industry to more strategically roll out and market their products and services. To players in the Asia-Pacific travel industry, the good news is that the region has proven to be increasingly strong, with promising growth in both incoming and outgoing traffic. Asia Pacific continues to welcome a large number of global travellers Interest in top Asia Pacific destinations in the first half of 2018 significantly surpassed that in the same period last year – showing a 53% increase in search volume for flights to Vietnam, followed by a 42% increase in The Philippines and a 41% increase in Japan. Some of the most searched Asia Pacific cities include Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Singapore. With the exception of Osaka and Tokyo, all other top destinations welcome the largest number of inbound travellers in January. TOP DESTINATION CITY MONTHS WITH LARGEST INBOUND NUMBER BANGKOK January, August HONG KONG January, April, October MELBOURNE January, December OSAKA February, April, October PHUKET January SEOUL January, August, October SINGAPORE January, August SYDNEY January TAIPEI January, October, December TOKYO January, October, December SOURCE: SKYSCANNER 2016-2018 DATA conducted by MoveHub last year revealed that residents of Hong Kong and Singapore were some of the world's most prolific travellers, with Hong Kongers boasting an average of 11.4 trips per person per year. Who else in Asia Pacific travels the most? Well, when we zoom into the first half of 2018, the Philippines has seen an increase of 76% in outbound searches compared to the same period last year, making it a key emerging market to watch. It was followed by Taiwan, which saw a 49% increase as well as South Korea with a 44% growth. Among citizens in some top Asia Pacific markets like Melbourne, Singapore and Tokyo, December is unsurprisingly a peak travel period, which in general boasts around 15% of the total search volume for the whole year. TOP ORIGIN CITY MONTHS WITH LARGEST OUTBOUND NUMBER BANGKOK April, December HONG KONG December MELBOURNE June, December OSAKA August, December PHUKET January, April, December SEOUL September, October, December SINGAPORE December SYDNEY December TAIPEI June, September TOKYO August, December SOURCE: SKYSCANNER 2016-2018 DATA

• Cover