Global research by SiteMinder reveals travellers from Asia, Latin America lead in intent, bleisure, digitisation

SiteMinder, the world’s leading open hotel commerce platform, has released the 2023 edition of the world’s largest consumer research on accommodation, which reveals that the global intent to travel over the next 12 months is highest among travellers from Asia and Latin America. In comparison to the global average of 57%, travellers from India (78%), China (76%), Indonesia (65%) and Mexico (64%) all intend to spend more time travelling over the coming year.

The proportion of travellers intending to work during their next trip is also highest among Asian and Latin American travellers, at 60% in India, 57% in Thailand, 53% in Indonesia, 47% in China, and 41% in Mexico. These figures drop to 31% in the US, an average of 25% in Europe, and 22% in Australia.

The findings are in SiteMinder’s Changing Traveller Report 2023, an analysis of more than 10,000 travellers surveyed across 12 of the world’s largest travel source markets, including Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Thailand, UK and US. They form part of the four key characteristics underpinning the travel plans and motivations that will impact the global accommodation industry over the coming year:

1. The enduring explorer: Committed to travelling, regardless of living costs
2. The digital dependent: Reliant on new technologies and bound to devices
3. The memory maker: Investing in experiences, in a roaring ‘20s rerun
4. The conscious collaborator: An open ally to accommodations and the community.

Globally, accommodation is being sought out as a destination unto itself with 1-in-2 travellers—notably international travellers—looking to spend either ‘most of the time’ or ‘considerable time’ at their accommodation on their next trip. This figure is again highest among travellers from Asia and Latin America, at 81% in India, 77% in Thailand, 72% in Indonesia and 62% in Mexico – a finding that perhaps correlates to the bleisure travel intent within these markets.

Above travel intent and bleisure plans, however, SiteMinder’s Changing Traveller Report 2023 shows that the biggest area of leadership within Asia and Latin America is in digitisation. While many travellers globally believe that their booking experience and stay onsite could be better if accommodation businesses were more tech-savvy, this belief is strongest in China and Thailand (95%), Indonesia (92%), India (91%) and Mexico (85%).

In parallel, Asia and Latin America also top the list in:

• Social media influence – when it comes to discovering their accommodation, travellers from within the two regions are the most heavily influenced by social media. While 70% of travellers globally say that social media influences how they discover accommodation options, the figure rises to 97% in Indonesia, 95% in both Thailand and China, 92% in India and 87% in Mexico. By contrast, only 46% of Brits and 42% of Germans say the same.
• Likelihood to use AI – at least 60% of travellers in the two regions say they are likely to use AI  to generate accommodation recommendations. In China, the proportion is highest at 88%, followed by Thailand at 86%. Within the UK and Germany, the proportion is as low as 24% and 23%, respectively.
• Preference for communication through a device – if given the choice between in-person or device communication when at their accommodation, travellers in the two regions prefer communication via a device more than in any other part of the world. China tops the list at 51%, followed by Indonesia at 46%. This preference is lowest among travellers from France (19%) and Germany (18%).

SiteMinder’s chief growth officer, Trent Innes, says the research affirms the deep penetration of smartphones within Asia and Latin America, and highlights the urgency among accommodation providers to embrace modern technology.

“All accommodation businesses should be encouraged by the strength of travel intent globally, but especially in the high-growth markets we surveyed – in Asia and Latin America. However, that strong intent comes with expectations for workspaces and, in particular, digitised experiences,” says Innes. “As these travellers grow in numbers internationally, accommodation providers would do well to review each touchpoint throughout their customers’ journeys, from the planning and booking phases right through to experiencing and beyond. Today’s traveller is a digital dependent and that is truer in Asia and Latin America than in any part of the world. It is therefore important that accommodation providers seeking to attract travellers from within these high-growth regions are able to meet their expectations when it comes to a fully-digitised guest experience.”