SINGAPORE, 15 January 2021: Domestic travel will lead the way during the upcoming Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) according to Sojern’s latest travel trend report for the Asia Pacific.
Sojern, a digital marketing expert, analysed travel trends and insights for countries within the Asia Pacific that typically have the strongest Lunar New Year seasonality – Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Sojern insights are based on data collected 12 January 2021 and insights are based on over 350 million traveller profiles and billions of travel intent signals.
It found that the demand for travel is predominantly domestically driven, with the exception of Hong Kong where more than 50% are looking at exploring international travel – if it translates into actual bookings will depend on the status of travel restrictions.
The dates of travel fall between 11 to 14 February coinciding with current indicators that 40% of travellers started to search a month prior to Chinese New Year. The big exceptions are Japan, Thailand and Malaysia – all of which are seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases with lockdowns and state of emergencies having been declared.
In Hong Kong, more than 10% of travellers are planning to book trips of at least four days.
Inter-country travel between Hong Kong and Singapore is showing a peak in demand between Chinese New Year (Feb 2021) and the March 2021 school holidays. ( Chart 1).
When looking at Singapore’s domestic trends, the pre-planning has started for Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day and the March school holidays. Sojern data shows that the domestic hotel search demand has improved drastically, with a 73% year-over-year (YoY) uplift (Chart 2). The advice is to keep an eye on the future international travel intent to Singapore with the announcement that World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2021 will be taking place in May in Singapore as opposed to Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
Conclusion
The findings this month include an analysis of travel intent within APAC, indicating a peak in domestic travel. More than 50% of Hong Kong residents are exploring international travel options during the Chinese New Year, and there are signs of a peak in travel between Singapore and Hong Kong. Singapore’s domestic hotel stays continue to be popular.
About Sojern
Sojern provides digital marketing solutions for the travel industry. Powered by artificial intelligence and traveller intent data, Sojern activates multi-channel marketing solutions to drive direct demand. More than 10,000 hotels, attractions, tourism boards and travel marketers rely on Sojern to engage and convert travellers around the world.
