Asians prefer online booking for travel accommodations

• AsiaRooms.com Traveller Confidence Index (TCI) tracks leading indicators for travel propensity, spending confidence
• Asian travelers also the least sensitive to cost

ASIA has the highest proportion of people going online to book for leisure and business accommodation, according to a study by online travel accommodation site AsiaRooms.com.

In its inaugural index researching global travel trends, whose results were released recently, AsiaRooms.com said that Asia had the highest proportion of respondents having gone online to book for leisure and business accommodation at 70.3%.

This compares to a global average of 63.2%; Europe at 63.2%; and Latin America at 51.6%, the company said in a statement.

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%.

The AsiaRooms.com Traveller Confidence Index (TCI) tracks leading indicators for travel propensity, spending confidence, and regional momentum to provide meaningful insights into the travel trends of both consumers and businesses from a demand perspective, the company said.

Commissioned by AsiaRooms.com, and in partnership with independent market research firm VisionOne UK, the study surveyed about 15,000 travelers worldwide during the first quarter of 2012.

The survey topics focused on respondents’ travel experiences, online booking behavior, spending and propensity for future bookings. It covered 29 major travel markets in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region including Japan, Korea and Oceania.

Surprisingly, Asian travelers 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 on-going economic uncertainty in the European and US markets relative to Asia.

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 United States.

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.