ForwardKeys recently co-hosted a hotel revenue management webinar with IDeAS Revenue Solutions in Singapore to help hospitality colleagues find ways to bounce back during these testing Covid-19 times. The focus was on the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region and the latest travel data is highlighting the might and possibilities of further growing the local, domestic travel market during this “survival of the fittest” period.

Domestic Travel & Flight Searches

In the period between July – September, travel that is taking place in the APAC region is predominately domestic travel with searches strongly reflecting this trend. In fact, domestic travel searches in APAC are currently more dominant than international searches.

The numbers are double and even triple in some cases such as in Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Thailand, and South Korea when compared to 2019.

The star of the region now is Vietnam. Domestic flight searches are converting to future bookings with the South-East Asian nation showing a growth of 8.9% this summer, according to tickets issued as of July 15, while others in the region still lag behind.

Upon closer inspection of the Flight Search data, there’s a growing demand for smaller destinations in Vietnam, more appealing to domestic tourists, like Qui Nhon, Dalat, Phu Quoc, and Nha Trang.

The Outlook after Summer

With new cases of COVID19 threatening to rear its ugly head in parts of Asia again, travel trends have been thrown out of whack. Gone are the days of planning trip months in advance, rather what we are seeing is the lead time being dramatically cut shorter. In China, Vietnam, and South Korea it’s now down to 0-4 days prior to flying.

No longer are last-minute bookers a small percentage of your marketing efforts – but in some cases, it’s your only chance to capture new customers. And with interest from foreign and afar long-haul source markets showing real interest not until Q1, 2021 – businesses need to make the most of its local markets.

For those planning afar, it appears that despite all the drama and debacle in the U.K regarding flight restrictions, quarantine, and the rise in new COVID19 cases, the English are still dreaming of a slice of APAC paradise in Australia and Thailand.

Thailand is high on the bucket list for holidaymakers in France, Germany, and the U.K. “People are expecting that Covid-19 will be controlled in major APAC destinations by then so they can finally travel to long-haul destinations from Europe, “ says Jameson Wong, APAC Director, at ForwardKeys.