Are people ready to travel in 2023? You bet

Overall, 50% of travellers from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines intend to travel in 2023. That was the key finding from Milieu Insight’s recent “Keeping Pace with Southeast Asia’s Consumers” by COO Stephen Tracy at the recent CruiseWorld Asia 2022.

Polling answers from 4,000 online survey respondents, Tracy also shared that travellers in these countries also prefer to travel within the Southeast Asia region or East Asia.

Australia and New Zealand ranked third as a preferred destination across all four markets, but North America is seen as the least likely choice for a vacation.

Social media continues to play an important role in travel planning across all country respondents, especially Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. This is music to the ears of tourism industry players as it signals where travellers go to plan their bookings in future.

“For instance, YouTube is important for integration, so if you’re an agency or tour operator, advertise a bit and do pre-rolls here and also on Facebook and Instagram,” Tracy added.

Other key finds from the survey include:

• 68% of Singaporeans surveyed said they are ready to travel in 2023.

• Consumers from all four countries also look to the same platforms to search for travel promotions and discounts: social media, travel booking sites and search engines. Findings also found that travellers would consider multiple trips if cost of travelling reduces.

• Cruise intention is high with 35-50% of respondents saying they have already booked or intend to book a cruise. A cruise duration of between 3-7 days is seen as ideal. 20% of respondents remain undecided, and this segment could potentially present a key opportunity for conversion by cruise operators.

• Quality of food, travel experiences and hygiene are the top concerns when it comes to choosing a cruise vacation. Says Tracy, “Although the fear level is way down than the early days of the pandemic, hygiene still plays an important role and consumers want to know that the information is there and it’s easy to access.”

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