Technology company Sabre published its own survey regarding the development of travel industry in Asia Pacific. According to the company, the polarization of preferences made it possible to distinguish four main types of Asian travellers.
First of all, modern Asian travellers are more interested in travelling in general. Four out of five respondents say travel is a necessity for them, not a luxury. More than a third of Asian travellers, who participated in the survey, say they do leisure travel three or more times a year. Economic growth and increased income together with wider choice of affordable travel options boost traveller volume in Asia Pacific. Of course, there are certain peculiarities about the region, with motivation and behavior being the most important ones. Motivation means whether a traveller is motivated by oneself or by others when thinking about travel, and behavior is about the control over different aspects of a planned trip.
Nowadays, more than a half of respondents say they are motivated by own reasons and choices, and only 44% say they seek for travel to share with others. Also, 58% of participants want to have full control over their travel, rather than letting someone to control it. That means that modern Asian travellers seek more personalized travel experience.
Based on the research, Sabre distinguished 4 types of modern travellers Explorer, Connector, Follower and Opportunist. Around a third of all respondents were explorers, and the remaining three types were evenly split among the categories. Explorers are travellers who want to have full control over their vacation and are interested in individual trips. Followers put the needs of their friends and family above their own. They do not travel alone and need to be taken care of, so they are likely to use a travel agency. Connectors are travellers who consider this aspect a part of their identity. They enjoy planning their travel and always share the experience with others. Finally, opportunists are the smallest group. These are travellers who are influenced by “right place” and “right people”.