Bangkok--6 Aug--GHC Asia
World’s Largest Hotel Survey Unveils Hospitality Industry’s Top Trends in Thailand
TripAdvisor?, the world’s largest travel site*, today announced the results of the latest TripAdvisor Industry IndexTM, the world’s largest hotel survey. With more than 25,000 responses from hoteliers around the globe, and over 500 from Thailand alone, the survey has revealed some interesting findings about today’s top hospitality industry trends. Amongst the key findings: Thailand ranks third in the world for best places to find a hotel job, with 31 percent of hoteliers expecting to increase their staff in the next six months. TripAdvisor’s biannual hotel survey has also uncovered a number of other industry insights, including accommodations’ expectations of room rates as they go into September, how they are engaging with travellers on social and mobile platforms and their plans to offer eco-friendly programs.
Thailand and Indonesia are great places for hotel jobs in Asia Pacific
According to the survey, a greater percentage of Thailand (31%) and Indonesia (30%) hoteliers plan to increase the size of their staffs. In comparison, hoteliers in Japan (20%), New Zealand (9%) and Australia (8%) trail behind.
Positive business outlook for Thailand properties
Nearly half (49%) of Thailand properties felt that the economy will improve, according to respondents’ answers to a number of questions gauging the perceived health of their business.
In comparison, Indonesia ranks first in the world, with 67 percent of accommodations that expect the economy to improve in the next 6 months.
Additionally, the business outlook for accommodations in Asia Pacific, has improved slightly as 50 percent now expect the economy to improve, up from 48 percent according to the last Industry Index survey in December 2011.
Most Positive Outlook:
1. Indonesia
2. Brazil
3. Russia
4. United States
5. India
Most Negative Outlook:
1. New Zealand
2. France
3. Spain
4. Italy
5. Greece
Larger Properties More Profitable
In the last six months, 29 percent of Thailand properties reported to have been extremely or very profitable. Additionally, 37 percent of larger properties (with over 50 rooms) indicated that they had been extremely or very profitable, compared to 24 percent of smaller properties (50 rooms or less).
Within Asia Pacific, Indonesia and India saw a stronger start to the year. 44 percent of accommodations in Indonesia and 35% in India reported being extremely or very profitable.
Room Rate Rankings: Who’s Increasing/Decreasing Rates ahead of Fall
Top 5 for Lower Rates:
1. Greece — 58%
2. Spain — 43%
3. Italy — 37%
4. Australia — 32%
5. New Zealand — 29%
Top 5 for Higher Rates:
1. U.S. — 47%
2. Brazil — 42%
3. Russia? — 42%
4. Indonesia — 37%
5. Turkey — 35%
Special Offers and Deals: How Thailand Accommodations Win Guests
Top Special Offers:
1. Discounts of rooms — 64%
2. Special amenities (e.g. free WiFi) — 49%
3. Free night’s stay with booking — 28%
4. Free parking — 19%
5. Free local transport — 17%
Only 5 percent of Thailand accommodations do not have any special offers.
What’s with Free WiFi?
Eighty-one percent of respondents report offering free in-room WiFi Internet access
Forty-one percent of the respondents who do not currently offer free WiFi, plan to do so in the next six months
Social Media Rankings Show Thailand Hotels are amongst world’s best
Thailand (80%) ranks #6 in the world for usage of social media to attract travellers after Malaysia (89%) and Indonesia (84%), but beating its counterparts in Asia Pacific such as Japan (62%), Australia (55%) and New Zealand (46%).
Across Thailand property types and sizes, respondents cited marketing through social media sites (51%), industry research/reports (41%) and friend’s recommendation (24%) as the top reasons why they are using social media, while posting deals (68%), responding to guest feedback (66%) and promoting events (50%) were the most common responses for how they are using these sites.
Thirty-three percent of respondents monitor mentions of their property once a day with 64 percent reporting that internal staff manages monitoring responsibility. In both cases, these were the most common responses.
In Thailand, Hotels Outpace B&Bs in Mobile Marketing
HOTELS B&BS
Ability to book via my property’s website on a mobile device is “very important” 62% 51%
Making special offers available to mobile device users is “very important” 48% 33%
Offers a function to engage with guests via mobile devices 35% 23%
Eco-Friendly Programs: 'Win-Win' for Hotel Budgets and Environment
Ranked #13 in the world for eco-friendly practices, Thailand hoteliers (75%) beat its counterparts in Asia Pacific such as Japan (69%) but is behind New Zealand (93%), Australia (80%), India (80%) and Malaysia (76%).
The most common eco-friendly programs are energy efficient light bulbs (66%), towel/linen reuse (65%) and energy efficiency program (61%).
When asked why they offer eco-friendly programs, respondents cited cost reduction (69%) and marketing purpose (40%) as their top reasons.
“The TripAdvisor Industry Index underscores the current economic climate, as hoteliers in North America, Asia-Pacific and Latin America are all approximately twice as likely to report being profitable in the last six months than hoteliers in the EMEA region,” said Christine Petersen, president, TripAdvisor for Business. “What’s encouraging is the traction accommodations are making in the areas of online, social and mobile marketing. While currently only a quarter of respondents offer programs to engage with mobile device users, we expect this number to grow.”
For more data from the TripAdvisor Industry Index, please download the report here: http://cdn.tripadvisor.com/pdfs/email/IndustryIndex2012_APAC_UK.pdf.
Methodology
The latest installment of the TripAdvisor 2012 Industry Index was conducted June 7- 14, 2012 and was sent by email to a random sample of global accommodation owners and managers. The survey generated 25,517 responses worldwide. Data analysis and other survey consultation were performed by Brainbox Research Ltd. ?Please note sample sizes for the following countries were low compared to the other countries surveyed: China (188), Malaysia (129), Mexico (151) and Russia (64).
About TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor? is the world's largest travel site,* enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 56 million unique monthly visitors*, and over 75 million reviews and opinions. The sites operate in 30 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly TripAdvisor visitors.
TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) manages and operates websites under 19 other travel media brands, and together the sites attract more than 69 million unique monthly visitors.** TripAdvisor, Inc.'s travel media brands include www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.onetime.com, www.seatguru.com, www.sniqueaway.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.travel-library.com, www.travelpod.com, www.virtualtourist.com, www.whereivebeen.com, and www.kuxun.cn.
*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, Worldwide, May 2012
**Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Worldwide, May 2012
?2012 TripAdvisor, Inc. All rights reserved.
SOURCE TripAdvisor
For more information, please contact:
TripAdvisor APAC
Jean Ow-Yeong
T +65-6643-1241
[email protected]
GHC Asia Limited
Chutinun Guna-Tilaka
T 0-2357-1183
[email protected]