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the luxury traveller & social media 2014: asia
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One could argue that Asia is the region
where social media matters most to
luxury travel brands. With several
of the largest countries in the world
and a highly fragmented landscape
of social media sites, Asia is both the
present and future of luxury travel,
and the epicenter of digital media
growth over the next decade.
Last October, ILTM and Brand
Karma released the first edition of
The Luxury Traveller & Social Media
at ILTM Americas. We’re especially
excited to unveil the second edition
at ILTM Asia 2014. This report
uncovers the latest insights into the
experiences that luxury travellers in
Asia-Pacific seek and share online.
Given the region’s diversity, we’ve
chosen to present the data in three
distinct segments: Mainland China, Asia
excluding China, and Oceania. With
Mainland China’s Great Firewall blocking
access to major international social
networks like Facebook, it’s important
to analyse the country separately from
the rest of Asia. Similarly Oceania’s
geographical and cultural distance
from the Asian continent requires
it to be analysed independently.
040608
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The Luxury Traveller & Social Media: Asia
interprets the opinions of luxury travellers
across the Asia-Pacific region about
2,000+ leading hotels around the world.
In doing so, we discover the preferences
and behaviours of current and future
generations of luxury travellers,
uncovering valuable predictions for the
future. All insights were drawn exclusively
from Brand Karma’s research on social
media postings left by luxury travellers
both in the Asia-Pacific and globally.
On behalf of Brand Karma and ILTM,
we wish you a truly prosperous ILTM
Asia with hopes that the insights
from this report will guide your brand
on its journey into the future.
Key FiNdiNGs
asia-paciFic social media at-a-GlaNce
luxury travel hotspots: moviNG southward & eastward
looK who’s talKiNG: oNliNe reviews & social media by GeoGraphy
review sites by hotel type
the Guest experieNce: deliGhts & disappoiNtmeNts
compariNG luxury travellers iN asia-paciFic
Key treNds: Globally & withiN asia-paciFic
luxury hotels: top perFormers
case studies
methodoloGy
about braNd Karma
about iNterNatioNal luxury travel marKet
IntroductIon & Background
taBle of contents
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‘crouchiNG tiGer, hiddeN draGoN’ No more, say hi to the New asia-paciFic luxury travellers More active on social media than any
other region, luxury travellers in APAC
are using social media to research and
share their travel experiences at an
unprecedented growth rate. In fact, they
posted 53% of all luxury travel reviews
written between 2012 and 2014. With
enormous populations and extremely
active social media ecosystems, China
(623 million users averaging 1.5 hours per
day), India (90 million users averaging 2.4
hours per day), Indonesia (62 million users
averaging 2.9 hours per day), and the
Philippines (34 million users averaging 4.0
hours per day) have increased the velocity
with which luxury brand messages move
across APAC1. While this can be an asset
or a liability to a luxury travel brand,
messages now move at the speed of light,
and brands should embrace this.
asiaN luxury hotel braNds lead the way iN social commerce Making money from social media is
elusive to most travel brands. While
most now use social for growing brand
awareness and fan acquisition, few have
figured out how to monetise it directly.
However, there are pockets of genius in
Asia amongst luxury travel brands. Hotel
groups are using Facebook creatively
to drive impressive numbers in direct
bookings. Given that online reviews
and social networks are forming an
increasingly meaningful element of the
travel experience for travellers in the
Asia-Pacific region, marketers and travel
providers will need to integrate this trend
into their marketing spend and customer
interaction techniques. By creating
targeted social media ad campaigns based
on key demographics and preferences,
luxury brands can drive profit through the
increased use of social media.
chiNa coNtiNues dowN its owN pathWhile there were rumours in late 2013
that citizens within the Shanghai Free
Trade Zone would be allowed to access
Facebook from inside Mainland China,
nothing transpired and China continues
to block access to major international
social networks. Locally run sites
including Sina Weibo, WeChat, and YouKu
continue to prosper, with some local sites
expanding internationally. Mainland China
boasts the largest population globally
and also has become a leading luxury
destination within Asia, as evidenced by
a 53% growth in luxury traveller reviews.
While longstanding luxury hotspots like
Shanghai or Beijing are still attracting
travellers, destinations such as Zhenjiang,
Chongqing, and Sanya are receiving
more attention, as indicated by sharp
increases in luxury social postings.
photo & video sites await F&b aNd spa marKetiNG creativityInstagram generates 15 times the level of
luxury brand engagement as Facebook,
despite having ten percent of its reach3.
As of February 2014, Bangkok’s Siam
Paragon was the most Instagrammed
place in the world. While many luxury
travel brands focus on social media
to market their rooms, the untapped
opportunity is in F&B and Spa. These
areas comprise a relatively large and
significant portion of a hotel’s revenue
within Asia, and platforms like Instagram,
Vine, and Pinterest remain green fields for
creatively attracting the luxury traveller’s
attention for dining and personal wellness.
mobile messaGiNG apps could displace traditioNal social NetworKsFacebook acquired WhatsApp for
US$19 billion earlier this year, bringing
mobile messaging apps centre stage. In
Asia, similar apps like WeChat (China),
Line (Japan) and KakaoTalk (Korea) are
innovating rapidly and attracting market
share from traditional social networks like
Facebook and Weibo. Unlike the traditional
social networks, mobile messaging apps
have immediate access to a person’s
contact list via their mobile phone, leading
to rapid connections and growth. While
these apps have been cautious about
enabling brands to setup an official
presence, WeChat and Line now have
opened their doors to quality brands
creating sales and loyalty applications,
and managing customer support within
their apps. Given the ubiquity of mobile
messaging apps in Asia, travel brands have
an enormous opportunity to innovate on
these channels.
by 2020, asiaN milleNNial travellers will accouNt For halF oF Global tourism speNdiNG iN apac2 Luxury travel marketers can’t stop talking
about Millennials, and in Asia this trend
is even more prevalent. Asian Millennial
Travellers already account for nearly 35%
of the US$600 billion spent by Asians
on international travel. By 2020 they
are projected to account for 50% of
the global travel spending across Asia-
Pacific. Among the Asian Millennials,
Chinese Millennial Travellers are the
most lucrative, spending nearly twice as
much as other Asian Millennial Travellers.
Indian Millennials come in second
place, opting for long-haul destinations
and spending more on flights.
social Guest satisFactioN iNcreases Between January 2012 and March 2014,
social postings by Chinese luxury travellers
increased 89%, while social postings
by the rest of APAC luxury travellers
increased by 5%. What is also interesting
is that satisfaction levels among these
travellers also steadily increased. Brand
Karma’s Social Satisfaction metric saw
an increase of 131% among travellers
posting in Chinese, an increase of 45%
among travellers posting in English,
and a decrease of 23% among travellers
posting in Japanese. Japan seems to be an
exception to the growth rate phenomenon
as there were 31% less reviews posted
by the Japanese from 2012 to 2013.
Key diFFereNces betweeN luxury travellers across apacThough there are commonalities
between luxury travellers across the
entire Asia-Pacific region, social media
written by luxury travellers accentuates
key differences between the three
sub-regions examined in this report.
Luxury travellers from Mainland China
and Oceania place higher value on
helpfulness and efficiency of service;
APAC travellers, excluding China,
prioritise breakfasts and peacefulness
in their reviews. The Chinese prefer to
post on Ctrip and Weibo while the others
use TripAdvisor and Facebook most.
key fIndIngs
1 Social, Digital & Mobile in APAC in 2014, We Are Social
2 Imagining the Next Phase of Asia’s Tourism, Singapore Tourism Board 2013
3 Instagram 2014 Intelligence Report, L2 Think Tank
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asIa-PacIfIc socIal MedIa at-a-glance
couNtry populatioN
most reviewed destiNatioN oN tripadvisor
social media peNetratioN
social media maturity (early, hiGh Growth, mature)
most popular social NetworKs
top mobile messaGiNG platForm
China 1,357,379,000 Beijing 44% High Growth WeChat, Sina Weibo, YouKu WeChat
India 1,257,476,000 New Delhi 7% Early Facebook, Google+, Twitter Nimbuzz
Indonesia 251,160,124 Bali 25% High Growth Facebook, Twitter, Google+ WhatsApp
Pakistan 193,238,868 Lahore 6% Early Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn WhatsApp
Bangladesh 163,651,860 Dhaka City 4% Early Facebook WhatsApp
Japan 127,223,000 Tokyo 17% Early Twitter, Facebook, Line Line
Philippines 105,720,644 Luzon 32% High Growth Facebook, Twitter, Google+ KakaoTalk
Vietnam 92,477,857 Ho Chi Minh City 22% High Growth Facebook, Google+, Twitter Zalo
Thailand 64,448,120 Bangkok 36% High Growth Facebook, Google+, Twitter Line
Burma (Myanmar) 55,167,330 Yangon (Rangoon) 2% Early Facebook Line
South Korea 48,955,203 Seoul 27% High Growth Facebook, Twitter, Kakao Talk KakaoTalk
Nepal 30,430,267 Kathmandu 11% Early Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter WhatsApp
Malaysia 29,628,392 Kuala Lumpur 51% Mature Facebook, Google+, Twitter WeChat
North Korea 24,720,407 Pyongyang 0% Early n/a n/a
Australia 23,475,122 Sydney 57% Mature Facebook, Twitter, Google+ WhatsApp
Taiwan 23,299,716 Taipei 64% Mature Facebook, Google+, Twitter Line
Sri Lanka 21,675,648 Kandy 9% Early Facebook, Twitter WhatsApp
Cambodia 15,205,539 Siem Reap 8% Early Facebook Line
Hong Kong 7,182,724 Hong Kong 61% Mature Facebook, Google+, Instagram WeChat
Laos 6,695,166 Luang Prabang 6% Early Facebook Line
Singapore 5,460,302 Singapore 59% Mature Facebook, Twitter, Google+ WhatsApp
New Zealand 4,365,113 Christchurch 55% Mature Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogger WhatsApp
Sources: World Population Statistics 2013, We Are Social, Social, Digital & Mobile in APAC in 2014, TripAdvisor
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In the social media world, luxury travel
hotspots are cities or destinations with
an above-average quantity of luxury
hotel reviews. The map illustrates the
luxury hotspots of today and tomorrow.
Existing hotspots are based on the
number of luxury hotel reviews within
a destination since 2012; upcoming
hotspots exhibit the highest growth rate
in luxury hotel reviews year-over-year.
Sales and marketing executives in these
destinations can create targeted social
campaigns to capitalise on the influx of
luxury travellers. Additionally, there are
significant implications for luxury hotel
developers and travel advisors who are
responsible for spotting these emerging
destinations before anyone else.
luxury travel HotsPots: MovIng soutHward & eastward
Global Luxury Hotspots Asia Hotspots
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From a global perspective, Brand Karma’s
research finds that the social media health
of a luxury travel brand is best indicated
by the positivity and share-of-voice it
attracts from two major sources: online
review sites like TripAdvisor and social
networking sites like Facebook. In Asia,
however, the review landscape varies
with the popularity of region-specific
sites like Ctrip, Dian Ping, and Weibo.
As evidenced in the maps, Asians have
become much more active in writing
luxury hotel reviews and are now the
stand-out leaders, representing 49%
of all luxury hotel reviews globally. It
is worth noting that the Chinese, in
particular, wrote 89% more luxury hotel
reviews in 2013 compared to 2012, and
current trends show they will continue
to share their luxury travel experiences
in social reviews throughout 2014.
North Americans and Europeans
have remained very active in posting
reviews, accounting for 27% and 15%,
respectively, of all the reviews in the
sample. By comparison, travellers from
Oceania (4%), the Middle East (3%), Latin
America (1%), and Africa (1%) do not write
nearly as many luxury hotel reviews.
What is the key takeaway? Given that
Asian travellers are posting more reviews
than ever, luxury hotel brands, especially
those with a large presence in Asia, must
understand the expectations and needs of
Asian travellers and actively manage their
presence on popular Asian review sites in
order to achieve a positive social media
health. These expectations and needs will
be further explored throughout this report.
Turning to social networking sites, the
landscape looks very different. Although
Middle East travellers are not very
active on review sites, their luxury hotels
receive the most Facebook Likes, with
an average of 19,316 Likes and a 4.3
average rating. Luxury hotels in Asia
outside of China also see high Facebook
participation, averaging 11,759 Likes
and a 4.2 rating. North America, South
America, and Oceania have relatively
similar numbers of Likes but achieve the
highest average rating at 4.5, 4.4, and
4.5 respectively. China does not have a
strong Facebook presence because it is
officially blocked on the mainland and their
luxury hotels participate in the Chinese-
specific social networking site, Weibo.
The conclusion? While the North
Americans and Europeans have
previously lead in luxury hotel reviews,
Asians have taken over the top spot.
Additionally, the emerging markets
lead in engagement on Facebook and
other social networks. Also, users are
gravitating to regional sites, namely Asia.
Globally, social media giants such as
Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn
continue to hold the top spots in social
networking sites. However, image-heavy
sharing sites like Pinterest, Tumblr, and
Instagram continue to grow. Social
video platforms like YouTube and China-
based YouKu continue to be among
the world’s most popular rich media
sites, and global messaging apps like
WhatsApp, LINE, and WeChat have
achieved significant scale as well.
look wHo’s talkIng: onlIne revIews & socIal MedIa By geograPHy
Luxury Hotel Reviews: Percentage Breakdown by Author’s Country of Origin (January 2012 - March 2014)
Luxury Hotel Facebook Likes: Average by Region (April 2014)
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Other interesting statistics4:
Despite being blocked in China in
2009, the major social networks still
have many millions of Chinese active
users who use various strategies to
access these services. Google+ has
100 million users in China, Twitter has
80 million, and YouTube has 60 million.
LinkedIn, not currently blocked by
China, has over 20 million users.
Given the large population in India,
it is interesting to note that nearly
25% of LinkedIn’s users are in India.
In fact, there are more Indians than
Americans on LinkedIn and Google+.
82% of Thai smartphone owners access
social media daily on their phones.
Source: The Planet’s 24 Largest Social Media Sites, Business Insider 2013
4 The Planet’s 24 Largest Social Media Sites, Business Insider
look wHo’s talkIng: onlIne revIews & socIal MedIa By geograPHy
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Looking more closely at hotel review sites,
we fi nd several important distinctions
between luxury and non-luxury hotels, as
well as between luxury hotels within China
and the rest of Asia:
• TripAdvisor holds a greater share
of reviews for luxury hotels (42.8%)
than for non-luxury hotels (25.4%).
Within Asia-Pacifi c, there are distinct
differences between China and the rest
of Asia and Oceania. For Asia-Pacifi c,
excluding China 48.0% of all luxury
hotel reviews are posted on TripAdvisor,
but China sees only 16.8% of luxury
reviews posted on TripAdvisor.
• Chinese booking and review sites
Ctrip, Qunar, Dao Dao, and Dian Ping
continue to gain shares of luxury hotel
reviews globally.
• Tencent launched its WeChat 5.2.1
update on March 21, 2014, which
enabled users to post reviews to
Dian Ping from within the messaging
platform. Interestingly, over 1,783
reviews were posted to Dian Ping on
March 25 and 1,693 posted on March
26 (nearly 1,000 more reviews than any
other site received those days), making
them the most popular days for review
postings between 2011 and 2014.
The table below lists the top ten most
reviewed cities on TripAdvisor in Asia-
Pacifi c with the percentage of positive
reviews for each city.
revIew sItes By Hotel tyPe
couNtry
review chaNNel with most positive reviews
% positive reviews
review chaNNel with least positive reviews
% positive reviews
China Ctrip 71% Dao Dao 19%
Asia, excluding China TripAdvisor 60% Booking.com 15%
Oceania Booking.com 70% Hotels.com 53%
city couNtry% pos reviews
1 Singapore Singapore 60%
2 Bangkok Thailand 66%
3 Shanghai China 56%
4 Hong Kong China 62%
5 Beijing China 49%
6 Sydney Australia 58%
7 Phuket Thailand 65%
8 Melbourne Australia 63%
9 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 63%
10 Mumbai (Bombay) India 65%
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What drives guest satisfaction?
Identifying the varying points of
delight and disappointment uncovers
deeper insights into the mind of
the luxury travel consumer.
In the following charts, green circles
indicate points of delight while pink
circles indicate points of disappointment.
The difference in the size of the outer
circle represents the impact of each
category - that is, how often a luxury
traveller mentions that topic in his/her
online postings. Meanwhile, the inner
circles signify the attributes within those
drivers, with varying shades suggesting
the extremity of the positive or negative
feeling based on the top ten most positive
and negative concepts selected from top
100 most mentioned concepts overall.
While there are commonalities in
the luxury travellers’ delights and
disappointments globally, it is worth
noting the regional preferences for Asia-
Pacific. The top three most satisfied
travellers in Asia-Pacific include the
Chinese, Australians, and Japanese.
tHe guest exPerIence: delIgHts & dIsaPPoIntMents
Global
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chiNa
Chinese families strongly appreciate
when hotels offer a luxury experience
that includes great childcare. Knowing
their children are cared for and
having a fantastic time at kids club
delights parents and greatly increases
the enjoyment of their stay.
Chinese travellers find that a helpful
and knowledgeable Concierge makes
for an excellent stay. Being friendly
and staying up-to-date with all the
hotel and surrounding location have to
offer are important to delight guests.
As the largest population in the world,
the Chinese are used to crowds,
but they are disappointed when
hotels feel crowded, especially in
swimming areas and at breakfast.
Guests are as connected as ever and
expect to remain so while travelling. As
such Internet access costs disappoint
many luxury travellers who feel
complimentary and fast Wi-Fi should be
available. In addition to business needs,
they want to share their experiences and
pictures with friends and family on Weibo.
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asia, excludiNG chiNa
The helpfulness of the concierge and
front desk plays a key role in delighting
guests in Asia-Pacific. Ensuring a timely
and pleasant arrival experience also lends
a helping hand to making sure these
guests enjoy their stay.
Fancy – Luxury hotels in Asia-Pacific
fancy their guests with elegant and
upscale guest rooms and lobbies.
They say breakfast is the most important
meal of the day, and luxury travellers in
Asia-Pacific agree as breakfast is one of
the main drivers of satisfaction. Having an
excellent, delicious and lavish breakfast
help the guests start their day on the
right side of the bed.
Whether at check-in or for room service,
the speed of service delivery is crucial
to the perception of satisfaction for the
luxury travellers in Asia-Pacific. How
quickly the staff responds and complete
guests’ request make or break the luxury
experience.
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coMParIng luxury travellers In asIa-PacIfIc
key trends: gloBally & wItHIn asIa-PacIfIc
While there are some interesting
differences between luxury travellers
in Asia-Pacific highlighted below,
they do have a few things in common
as well. For example, all sub-regions
write more reviews on Monday
than any other day of the week.
In terms of what guests in Asia-Pacific
compliment most, aesthetics receive
the most praise especially in reference
to the guest rooms, suites, and views
of the hotel. On the other hand, guests
in Asia-Pacific complain more about
price than anything else. Though luxury
travellers expect to pay for a premium
experience, in many instances, guests
feel the upcharge does not justify their
perceived value of their experience.
MOBILE REVIEWS PHOTOS & VIDEOS
Global Luxury Travellers
59% of luxury travellers use smart phone internet browsers to book overnight accommodations
Globally, there were 41% more luxury review posted in 2013 than in 2012
Millennials define luxury travel experiences by how “instagrammable” they are
More than 40% of online traffic related to travel queries now comes from mobile devices, including tablets
Travel review websites have the most influence (69%), followed by online travel agencies (57%), travel provider sites (56%) and friends & relatives (43%).
70% of travellers update their Facebook page while on vacation.
Chinese Luxury Travellers
73% of Sina Weibo users access Weibo from mobile
At 49% they comprise nearly half of luxury hotel reviews worldwide
YouKu and Tudou, the top Chinese online video sites, attract 400,000,000 unique viewers every month (40% of YouTube’s global unique users)
Asia-Pacific Excluding China
Luxury Travellers
Mobile messaging apps like WeChat, Line, and WhatsApp are changing the way brands interact with luxury consumers.
66% of luxury hotel reviews written on TripAdvisor (the most popular review website by far) are positive
Luxury brands in Asia Pacific have the highest growth rates for Instagram engagement
Sources: 10 Social Media, Mobile, and Online Travel Stats, Social Media Today; China Digital Landscape 2014, We Are Social; Instagram 2014 Intelligence Report, L2 Think Tank, Daily Travel Stats, Skift
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luxury Hotels: toP PerforMers
hotel Name location
Global
The Oberoi, Gurgaon Gurgaon, India 75 5.0 9,939 1,168 - 10 - 197 2
JW Marriott Hotel Chandigarh Chandigarh, India 71 4.5 46,610 - - 3 - 1,460 3
The Oberoi, Mumbai Mumbai (Bombay), India 72 5.0 7,493 812 - - - - 7
The Steenberg Hotel Constantia, South Africa 78 5.0 4,335 3,102 - 76 - - -
Conrad Algarve Algarve, Portugal 75 5.0 5,888 424 - - - 7,647 96
Umaid Bhawan Palace Jodhpur, India 70 4.5 16,474 1 - - - - -
Taj Lake Palace Udaipur, India 67 5.0 9,941 - - - - - -
Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra Phnom Penh, Cambodia 70 4.5 14,038 450 - 7 - 528 -
Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun Playa del Carmen, Mexico 67 4.5 24,993 - - - 526 - -
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka'upulehu
Island of Hawaii, United States 66 5.0 11,204 7,438 - 1,619 1,691 - 27
chiNa
The Puli Hotel And Spa Shanghai, China 65 4.5 1,479 439 11,837 2 - - -
Golden Gulf Hotel Yantai Yantai, China 71 4.5 - - 6,190 - - - -
Crowne Plaza Hotel Suzhou Suzhou, China 66 4.5 269 18 42,564 - - - -
Sheraton Guangzhou Hotel Guangzhou, China 67 4.5 88 - 10,145 - - - -
Glenview ITC Plaza Chongqing Chongqing, China 68 4.5 1 - 7,497 - - - -
Crowne Plaza Hotel Lijiang Ancient Town Lijiang, China 66 4.5 - - 23,922 - - - -
Le Meridien Chongqing Nan'an Chongqing, China 63 4.5 53 - 10,596 - 24 - -
InterContinental Suzhou Suzhou, China 62 4.5 116 11,984 - - 208 -
Intercontinental Tangshan Tangshan, China 63 4.5 4 - 2,920 - - - -
Hyatt on the Bund Shanghai, China 59 4.5 2,034 20 770,618 - - 117 1
asia-paciFic, excludiNG chiNa
The Oberoi, Gurgaon Gurgaon, India 75 5.0 9,939 1,168 - 10 - 197 2
JW Marriott Hotel Chandigarh Chandigarh, India 71 4.5 46,610 - - 3 - 1,460 3
Oberoi Mumbai Hotel, Mumbai (Bombay) Mumbai (Bombay), India 72 5.0 7,493 - - - - - 7
Umaid Bhawan Palace Hotel Jodhpur, India 70 4.5 16,474 1 - - - - -
Taj Lake Palace Udaipur, India 67 5.0 9,941 9,941 - - - - -
Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra Phnom Penh, Cambodia 70 4.5 14,038 450 - 7 - 528 -
Taj Bengal Kolkata Kolkata (Calcutta), India 71 4.5 8,632 393 - - - 25 4
The Oberoi Udaivilas Udaipur, India 73 5.0 1,697 11 - - - - -
Mandarin Oriental, Jakarta Jakarta, Indonesia 64 4.5 22,603 2,306 - 52 1,037 4,538 14
The Oberoi Bangalore Bangalore, India 67 4.5 6,167 467 - - - - -
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As 2013 came to a close, India’s Internet
Penetration crossed the 200 million
mark, the third highest in the world
after China and the US. However, given
India’s population of 1.26 billion, this
only makes up 16% of the entire country.
Juxtapose this number with a mobile
phone penetration of 97% and you’ll
discover that most Indian consumers
aren’t carrying around smart phones.
Enter “missed call” marketing. In India,
the missed call function, which even the
most basic of mobile phones provide, has
been ingeniously utilised by consumers to
do a whole lot more than trying to reach
a friend or family member. By simply
calling a number and hanging up, users
can receive daily programme timings
from a television channel, find out about
the latest promotions or deals from a
particular company, and indicate to any
brand that they have a potential customer.
ZipDial is a startup from Bangalore
that has made a flourishing business
out of this phenomenon, provisioning
phone numbers that brands like Procter
& Gamble and Disney include in their
print advertisements. Once interested
users give the designated phone
numbers a missed call, they are sent
deals, coupons, and other messages
the brands want to convey. Additionally,
hospitality brands and call centres,
including the popular online travel
agency MakeMyTrip, are utilising missed
calls to send consumers multiple-choice
surveys via text messages. Each answer
has an associated phone number that
customers can select via a missed call.
Earlier this year, Facebook acquired
WhatsApp for US$19 billion. One
of the largest technology company
acquisitions in history, the deal opened
the world’s eyes to the importance of
mobile messaging applications. And
while WhatsApp has a major presence in
certain Asian markets, there are several
important players local within Asia that
are changing the way travel brands
market and sell travel in countries like
China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea.
The figures speak for themselves –
South Korea’s Kakao Talk is the most
recent app to cross the 100 million-user
mark in the middle of 2013 just one
year after its launch and registering
as many as 5.2 billion messages sent
per day. The other two market leaders
are Japan’s Line and China’s WeChat.
As of November 2013, Line has 300
million registered users, and WeChat has
over 600 million users worldwide as of
February 2014. While WhatsApp claims
to have reached half a billion active users
sharing 700 million photos and 100
million videos each day, it’s the brand
engagement opportunities on the local
Asian mobile messaging apps that make
them compelling to travel marketers.
case study:tHe MIssed call ecosysteM In IndIa and wHat It Means to luxury travel Brands
case study: MoBIle MessagIng aPPs - wecHat, lIne, kakao talk
The best part about missed call
marketing? It is absolutely free for users
since service providers do not charge for
calls that are not picked up. With missed
call numbers in India hitting 400 million in
March 2013, twice that of India’s internet
penetration, ZipDial’s business is going
strong. In addition to India, Zipdial is
already popular Africa, the Philippines,
and Bangladesh and is expanding in Sri
Lanka and South East Asia in 2014. Even
WhatsApp reported in early 2014 that
it is planning to introduce the “missed
call” feature to attract its Indian users.
At the expense of telecommunication
companies, this phenomenon is both
simple and logical to both consumers
and brands, and is expected to become
more popular in the future. While
many companies focus on mobile
optimisation for smartphone users, the
majority of consumers in India behave
differently. Travel marketers should
consider this as they contemplate an
international mobile marketing strategy.
For example, the W Hong Kong has
organised a contest called the WeChat
WOW Race. Utilising WeChat as the
contest platform, participants follow
the W Hong Kong WeChat account
and scan a QR code on their bill from
Woobar, the hotel’s signature bar. For
every HK$500 spent, one WOW mark
is earned. The accumulation of marks
will culminate in prizes that range from
a bottle of sparkling wine to a one-night
stay at W Hong Kong. While consumers
enjoy travel rewards, the hotel is
building up a next generation customer
database, where consumers connect
to W Hong Kong in the same way they
connect with their friends and family.
But where mobile messaging apps
get especially interesting is in mobile
commerce, or m-commerce. Within China,
WeChat now includes the ability for users
to make flight reservations and other
purchases directly within the app. While
this feature is currently only available in
China, it indicates that WeChat aims to
be much more than just a messaging app,
and could become the next disruptive
force in online travel bookings.
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Brand Karma helps hospitality and travel
brands attract and retain customers
via social and digital media. Founded
in 2006 by three friends who are
former Microsoft executives, today
Brand Karma provides analytic tools
marketers use to audit their brand,
a social CRM to manage reputation,
agency services to increase social
commerce and brand awareness, and
consultants to form winning competitive
sales and marketing strategies.
The company tracks the social media
performance of over 350,000 hotels
worldwide, working with the world’s most
admired hospitality brands including
Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott
International, InterContinental Hotels
Group, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group,
Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-
Carlton Hotel Company, Dorchester
Collection, Frasers Hospitality, and
many independent hotels. Brand
Karma has offices in the US, Singapore,
Greater China, Japan, and Europe.
To learn more about Brand Karma,
email [email protected] or
visit www.brand-karma.com.
Now entering its 8th year, ILTM Asia
is the leading luxury travel event for
the Asia Pacific region. ILTM Asia is an
invitation-only event, where the very
best travel agents and advisors from
across Asia meet the world’s very best
luxury travel experiences. For more
information on ILTM Asia please visit
www.iltm.com/asia
International Luxury Travel Market
is a portfolio of global, regional and
specialist luxury travel events. Alongside
the global flagship event in Cannes,
ILTM has core international events in
the Asia Pacific and Americas regions
and three specialist events; ILTM Japan,
ILTM Africa and ILTM Spa. For more
information on ILTM events please visit
www.iltm.com
aBout Brand karMa
aBout IltM asIa
aBout InternatIonal luxury travel Market
The Luxury Traveller & Social Media: Asia
presents findings from Brand Karma’s
research on comments, photos, and
videos left by luxury travellers both in
Asia-Pacific and globally on social media
and travel review sites between January
2011 and March 2014; year-over-year
comparisons were undertaken between
the calendar years of 2012 to 2013.
The data presented in this report has
been analysed from 1,546,854 reviews
written for more than 2,000 luxury
hotels worldwide, which were specifically
selected for this study. Hotels are
categorised geographically into five
major regions: North America (Canada,
Mexico, United States); Latin America
(Caribbean, Central America, and South
America); Europe; Middle East & Africa;
and Asia-Pacific. Given Asia-Pacific’s
diversity, the region is subdivided into
three distinct segments: Mainland China,
Asia Excluding China (East Asia, Not
Including China, Central Asia, South
Asia, Southeast Asia), and Oceania
(Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Seychelles).
MetHodology
Brand Karma interprets the way in which
consumers perceive hotel brands by
analysing brand sentiments on travel
review sites, OTAs, discussion forums,
and social networking sites. Through
applying text analysis and natural
language processing to examine all
statements within a hotel review, Brand
Karma can then determine the attribute(s)
discussed and categorise the guest’s
sentiment toward that attribute as
positive, negative or neutral. Moreover,
the technology detects subtle differences
in expression. For example, a comment
describing the hotel’s breakfast buffet
as “delicious” is scored more favourably
than one describing it as “pretty good.”
Brand Karma combines these scores to
calculate a review’s net satisfaction score.
Unless otherwise footnoted, standard
social media performance metrics
– including but not limited to the
number of Facebook likes, number of
Sina Weibo followers, etc. – are pulled
directly from the source web site. All
figures were current as of April 2014.
For further information please contact:
Jen Barratt
Marketing Manager
T: +44 (0) 20 8910 7804
For media enquires please contact:
Lucy Clifton
Cut Communications
T: +44 (0) 20 8334 4008
