Asian travellers most likely to book hotels online
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Asian travellers are the most likely to book a hotel online, a new study has found.
According to Asiarooms.com’s inaugural Traveller Confidence Index (TCI), 70.3% of travellers based in the Asia Pacific region have used the internet 
to book either leisure or business accommodation – higher than the global average of 63.2%. European travellers (63.2%) were next most likely to book hotels online, followed by those in Latin America (51.6%).
Commissioned by AsiaRooms.com and conducted by market research firm VisionOne UK, the study surveyed about 15,000 travellers worldwide during the first quarter of 2012.
Within Asia, China had the highest proportion of direct online bookings at 57.5% of respondents, followed closely by Singapore at 57.4% and India at 55.0%.
Asian travellers were also the least sensitive to cost with only 29% of respondents in Asia citing cost savings as the key determinant influencing their online bookings. This compares to the global average of 34%, 30.3% in Latin America, and 39.3% in Europe.
Spending and room booking results also reveal a disparity in confidence mirroring the ongoing economic uncertainty in the European and US markets relative to Asia’s strength. Travellers in Asia lead spending with 65.5 index points versus 62.9 points in Latin America, 53.3 points in Europe, and 49.3 points in the US. Singapore led the Asia Pacific region for overseas leisure travel with a propensity index score of 67.9 points versus Malaysia at 48.3 points, China at 62.8 points, and a global average of 61.4 points.
