98 pc Indians like to comment about their travel online:study

Travellers from Asia-Pacific countries, including India, are most enthusiastic about using social media and most attached to their mobile devices like smartphones and laptops in the world, a study has found.

About 98 per cent of Indians like to comment about their travel interests online, according to Text100's Digital Index: Travel and Tourism study. The study, conducted in 13 countries with 4,600 respondents, suggests that Asia-Pacific travellers lead the way in using social media to inspire, purchase and share their travel experiences.

At least 61 per cent of Asia-Pacific travellers said they like to use social media more if they had access to free WiFi at their destinations. "Despite this appetite for digital communication, many Asia-Pacific consumers still base travel decisions on more traditional sources of influence. 48 per cent say traditional travel agents still help in planning their holidays, while 57 per cent are influenced by travel TV programmes," the study has found.

For them, loyalty programmes and deal websites were the least influential factors when it came to making travel decisions. "Widespread Asia-Pacific enthusiasm for social media is definitely not a signal for the travel industry to invest solely in digital," said Anne Costello, Text100's Regional Director, APAC.

"Travel and tourism operators need to integrate their traditional and new communications channels, but more importantly they need to focus on delivering content which their customers actually want to receive," she said.

"Stand alone promotions and loyalty programmes, for example, don't seem to be resonating with consumers any longer; they need to be part of an integrated communications approach," she said.

The region's enthusiasm as digital early adopters also extends to how travellers use technology. "89 per cent of Asia-Pacific travellers use travel apps on their smartphones or tablets while on holiday, primarily for information about local attractions and finding their way around," study said.

This 'always-on' tendency means that travellers of this region find it harder to switch off on holiday than any others: 34 per cent use their mobile devices to do work while on holiday, compared to a global average of 22 per cent.

"The presence of the mobile device is quietly but dramatically changing how we behave when we travel," said Costello. "As the fastest adopters of digital technology when it comes to travel, Asia-Pacific consumers are experiencing more benefits and challenges alike than the rest of the world.

"As a result, these tech-savvy travellers feel the travel industry needs to do more to keep up with their fast-growing reliance on the mobile device and social media as part of the overall travel experience," she said.

The study also found that Asia-Pacific travellers love to talk about shopping: 48 per cent post comments about their shopping experiences, compared to only 29 per cent of travellers globally.

China turned out to the heaviest user of social media for holiday decisions, with 71 per cent of consumers referring to bloggers and online reviews. In Australia – the slowest adopter of social media for travel – only 30 per cent do so.

As many as 69 per cent of Singaporean tourists rate relaxation as a key factor when travelling, but 34 per cent of them still check their work emails while on holiday. Only half of Hong Kong's travellers say independence was important in travel reviews, the study said.

Malaysian tourists value eco-tourism more than the rest of the world: 38 per cent consider it when choosing locations, compared to 15 per cent globally.