A new survey of more than 8,000 travellers globally, including 800 travellers across Australia, reveals a growing appetite for overseas travel that hasn’t been dampened by rising costs of living.
To mark World Tourism Day, SiteMinder (ASX:SDR), the world’s leading open hotel commerce platform, has today launched its annual Changing Traveller Report 2022, which reveals that the global urge to travel is a stronger force than rising inflation. Just under 50% of Australians intend to travel internationally in the next 12 months, with 66% of those aged between 18-25 expecting to make an overseas trip.
Gen Z (18-25) are also the most likely to be influenced by the social media presence of the property they book, compared to other age groups. In fact, no respondents in this age group denied being influenced by the social media accounts of the accommodation they book.
Australians are the least influenced by inflation rates when making plans and looking at costs for travel, when compared to their global counterparts. 28% said inflation had “no impact” on their travel plans or budget, and 37% said it’s only having a moderate impact.
Sankar Narayan, Managing Director and CEO of SiteMinder, said, “The long-awaited recovery of travel has emerged with a new type of traveller, who has higher expectations from hotels and their travel experiences than ever. In SiteMinder’s 2022 Changing Traveller Report, we can see that, more than ever, travellers now have ambitions to book, travel, work, connect, and experience the world with the greatest flexibility and security possible.”
As the largest accommodation-specific traveller survey globally, insights from the report show:
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32% of Australians intend to travel both domestically and internationally in the next 12 months
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50% of Australians intend to just travel domestically in the next 12 months
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18% of Australians intend to just travel internationally in the next 12 months
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Australians are open to some forms of technological advancement in hotels, but not others. 57% of Australians would ‘definitely’ or ‘likely’ pre-visit their accommodation in the metaverse prior to checking in, but the majority (68%) do not support accommodation providers replacing hospitality professionals with robots or Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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76% of Australians are comfortable spending additional money on extras during their next accommodation stay. Australians are the most willing to spend extra on are: breakfast (48%), early check in/late check out (32%), room size (30%)
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78% of Australian travellers said it is important they can easily modify or freely cancel their reservations
Amanda Cottome, Culture and Brand Experience Manager, Ovolo Hotels, explained, “With more and more Gen-Z consumers actively seeking travel experiences globally, preparing for this market is important for all accommodation businesses. These hyper-connected travellers are seeking unique, personalised, social-media-worthy experiences to share with their friends. Yet there’s a real authenticity to this generation – they are advocates for change who seek value-aligned brands that do the right thing socially and environmentally. Hoteliers will need to be creative and innovative to appeal to Gen-Z, creating an experience that both connects them to the community and a greater purpose.”
The extensive report also extensively uncovers five key travel trends set to inform and inspire the accommodation and tourism industry:
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The Macro-Travel Trend: The urge to travel is stronger than rising inflation
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The Digital Influence Trend: Right now, travellers are the most winnable consumers on earth
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The Bleisure Trend: Working travellers want the hotel of the future, today
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The Trust Trend: Every digital touchpoint matters for the new trust-critical traveller
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The Human Connection Trend: Tech-enabled travellers are not willing to compromise on human connection
Explore SiteMinder’s interactive hotel experience to gain more insights and to read the full report.
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