Digital acceleration in the travel and cruise space: Study by Milieu Insight

Milieu Insight's travel and cruise study, commissioned by Travel Weekly Asia, was shared on CruiseWorld Asia 2022, held in-person in Singapore for the first time in three years.

Polling 1,000 respondents each from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, the study aimed shed light on consumer travel preferences including cruising. Data from the study showed a high dominance of social media, travel booking platforms and search engines in where consumers were shopping and planning.

To the question, “what sources do they use to plan a trip”, “travel agencies” were ranked sixth, after social media, travel-related blogs/websites, search engines, travel booking platforms and friends and family.

As for where they look for deals and promos, “travel agencies” also ranked sixth with social media ranking number one and travel booking platforms like Agoda and Klook coming in second.

The good news, said Stephen Tracy, COO, is that the desire to cruise is high and travel agents had a golden opportunity to convert those who say they have no intention to cruise, given the high air fares and complications around travel at this moment. “It gives agents a huge addressable market. But the path to purchase is not linear. You have to know your market segment and use good data to know how each segment behaves.”

Read the full feature on WiT.