According to a survey by Expedia, choosing location to travel is increasingly based on shareability online, as much as the authentic experience itself.
Expedia Malaysia released their findings on a recent survey relating to millennials and travelling. The survey, reflected in the 2017 Expedia Millennial Travel Report, was conducted with 21,000 people across 21 markets globally, including Malaysia. The survey focused on millenials, defined as those born between 1982 and 1999.
Based on the survey, millenials are increasingly holding back on investing in marriage and mortgages, instead opting to invest in travel experience. The Malaysian data showed that for over 72% of the respondent, the main driver for travel is for experiencing the authentic culture.
Interestingly, the deciding factor to where millennials choose to travel to, is increasingly about how shareable that location is. For over 43% of the respondents, factors such as having comments and reactions on their vacation posts are either a significant (32%) or a deciding factor (11%) for choosing a holiday destination. Holiday plans are greatly influenced by social media postings, with 44% quoting holiday postings from friends affected travel decisions.
The biggest takeaway from the report is that millennials are demanding authentic, personalised, convenient and safe travel experiences. From the Malaysian data available, it was noted that concern for personal safety abroad was greater, at 60 percent compared to Singaporeans at 59 percent.
The report also observed that the influence of fellow consumers (review sites, blogs, travel forums) is the most important source of influence when it comes to their holiday decision-making – more so than close contacts (friends, family, social network contacts) and industry experts (travel agents, travel providers, expert opinion websites).
While talking to journalists about the report findings, Simon Fiquet, General Manager for Southeastasia and India, Expedia group notes that Expedia relies heavily on data to predict and make better suggestions for users booking through Expedia website. Simon told us that they are working on algorithms, integrating machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities to personalise recommendations.
“Here at Expedia, we see ourselves as a technology company in the business of travel, and we leverage our powerful data & insights to deliver a personalized customer experiences that come with more choice, flexibility and reliability” Simon said. “Perhaps the most valuable insight we have gained from this Report is that by tailoring the experiences for the Millennial traveller, we stand to gain their trust for years to come, as indicated by the importance they place on the opinion of their peers whom they trust and find relatable”.
Capabilities like Scratchpad collects data and makes recommendation to users based on their previous search, giving advice on the best pricing expectation and best time for booking.
They’ve also recently tested out chatbots (automated chat assistants) on Skype and Facebook Messenger, to create a more interactive experience for planning holidays. While Expedia is still experimenting and improving on their chatbot systems, we can expect some information about user response in the coming months.
