Page 18 - AeM_August_2017

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Google reveals the top travel habits and

trends of Singaporeans with the Asia

Pacific Travel Dashboard

Singaporeans are among the most well-travelled in the kets such as India (+40% YoY) and Vietnam (+26%
world with close to 9.5 million overseas trips reported in YoY). In Asia Pacific, mobile is fast becoming the pre-
2016, according to Google updated Asia Pacific Travel ferred platform to make travel-related searches as peo-
Dashboard that revealed the top search trends in Singa- ple continue to explore travel option on the go. Google
pore and 12 countries across Asia Pacific over the last saw a 26% increase in mobile searches in Asia Pacific
year. The dashboard also uncovers the top travel habits across various travel categories such as destinations,
and trends of Singaporeans including the most popular flight and accommodation options, travel packages,
destinations, common search terms, and factors Singa- and activities to fill their itineraries.
porean travellers consider before planning to go on a
getaway. Singaporean travellers are open to trying
new brands
Ryan Ferguson, Travel Lead for Asia Pacific, Google
said, “Travel continues to be a fast-growing sector Closer to home, interest for travel continues to grow,
across Asia Pacific countries. We’ve seen travellers in and travel-related searches increased by five per cent
Asia turn to Google search at various stages of their in 2016. Searches peaked during the June and Decem-
holiday planning driving a 26% increase in searches for ber holiday seasons, with a four per cent dip in travel
hotels year on year, while searches for the air sector queries seen in the first quarter of 2017.
grew 13%. With the refresh of our Asia Pacific Travel
Dashboard, we hope to work with travel businesses to Searches on Google show that 67% of people in Singa-
bring greater value and more relevant content to meet pore do not have a brand in mind when searching for
the evolving needs of discerning travellers in the re- travel-related queries during the early planning stages
gion.” of their trips. They start searching for preferred brands
when they are narrowing down their choices or when
Asia Pacific travellers turn to search while they are ready to book. This provides an opportunity to
planning their travels travel advertisers to capture their attention during the
planning phase, when they are open to brand sugges-
Travel searches in the region grew 11% year on year tions.
with a particularly strong growth rate in emerging mar-
18 August 2017 - Search Engine Marketing & Optimization