Tag: Travel

Singapore – Around 3 in 5 Singaporeans have been reported to be willing to change their existing travel habits in search of better travel deals, according to the latest data from travel agency Skyscanner.

The allure of a great price offer emerged as the top reason for Singaporeans to travel, with 62% of respondents considering it as their primary motivation.

Despite the prevailing concerns about rising living costs, 89% of Singaporeans remain committed to allocating a portion of their budget for travel, with 23% identified as avid travelers who prioritize exploration regardless of their financial situation.

Furthermore, nearly 80% of Singaporeans strategically plan quick getaways during extended public holiday weekends to escape the hot weather and fast-paced lifestyles. Bangkok, Bali, and Kuala Lumpur emerge as the top destinations for these spontaneous trips.

Additionally, Singaporeans are thrifty celebrators, with securing a good deal being the primary motivation for booking trips, and they typically spend at most a week finding favourable deals.

In a statement from Skyscanner’s Travel Trends and Destination Expert, Cyndi Hui said that the report had revealed the fascinating opportunistic nature of Singaporeans when exploring new places.

Finally, while Gen Z travelers seek to enhance their social media presence through travel, a significant percentage of respondents across various age groups prioritize mental relaxation and stress relief as the primary benefits of traveling.

Singapore – One of Southeast Asia’s leading super app, Grab, has announced new in-app travel innovations and partnerships to provide travellers a safe, seamless, and hyperlocal experience as the region embraces a travel comeback. 

According to Grab, the enhanced travel experience was designed to give all travellers the assurance and confidence to explore their destination by empowering them to plan ahead, get a smooth ride the moment they touch down, and experience their destination like a local.

The new app enhancements include the new Traveller homepage, which allows overseas travellers to explore a city within the Grab app as if they were at the destination. Available for 33 of the top cities tourists visit in Southeast Asia, users can check out the Grab services present in the city, search and save places of interest, and explore the food options near their destination.

The app was also made available in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese languages to deliver a more intuitive experience for travellers from China, Korea, and Japan.

In the second half of the year, Grab will also release translated merchant menus in key cities across Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand into English, as well as a currency converter feature that will automatically display fares in travellers’ preferred local currency so that they don’t have to do manual conversions.

For travellers who prefer not to download another app, Grab has also teamed up with some of the world’s most popular apps such as WeChat, AliPay, Ctrip, Kakao T, Booking.com, and Uber to provide travellers visiting the region access to Grab’s ride-hailing services through these platforms.

“We want to be at the forefront of Southeast Asia’s travel revival, welcoming travellers back to the region with an enhanced Grab experience that is designed to help them travel with ease and peace of mind,” said Russell Cohen, group managing director of operations at Grab. 

He added, “No one knows Southeast Asia like we do, and our goal is not only to deliver the safest and most seamless mobility experience, but also encourage travellers to explore the richness of Southeast Asia like a local through our superapp offerings.”

In support of the revival of travel, Grab also announced new upgrades to its GrabUnlimited subscription package, giving its subscribers access to discounted airport rides at 89 airports across Southeast Asia.

Singapore – Changi Airport Group has made its debut to the metaverse by showcasing ‘ChangiVerse’, a metaverse experience created to help audiences connect with Singapore Changi Airport and explore its notable sights through the digital space.

Created with global professional services Accenture, ChangiVerse is the first virtual experience created by an airport that has debuted in Roblox, a global shared experience platform with millions of daily users.

Changi Airport’s debut in the metaverse is also an effort to reach a wider group of digital users and fans who are interested to explore more travel destinations differently.

Moreover, the said platform digitally represents Changi’s physical airport where visitors can access fun activities, social experiences, and interactable spaces such as bustling café or festive glamping tent and minigames whilst earning unique collectibles to give their digital avatar some extra flair.

Hung Jean, group senior vice president of Changi Airport Group’s enterprise digital ecosystem & business division, said that the creation of ChangiVerse aims to strengthen the idea that the airport is more than just a transport node, but it’s also a fun and magical destination to create memories.

“ChangiVerse is also about engaging our customers and serving them better through innovation and experimentation, in line with our belief of customers being at the heart of everything we do,” Jean added.

Wee Wei Ng, Southeast Asia market unit lead for Accenture, added, “We are privileged to collaborate with CAG to drive digital-physical convergence through ChangiVerse. By combining digital and physical worlds, ChangiVerse can simulate the airport environment, creating immersive experiences that elevate human interactivity to new dimensions, enhance customer experiences, and drive innovation.”

In 2022, Changi Airport Group has dealt with Accenture to extend its partnership for the enhancement of travellers’ experience when visiting Changi Airport in Singapore.

Indonesia – As Indonesian consumers observed their ramadan plans, a latest research from market research company YouGov reveals that Jakarta-based Traveloka is the most preferred online travel company for bookings in the said season, with 42% of these travellers purchased their mudik transport tickets from the said company.

Meanwhile, 35% of mudik travellers used tiket.com for their bookings whilst 11% preferred booking.com.

The research also showed the most popular mudik travel period, with 45% of the respondents said that they prefer to do it 2-6 days before Eid al-Fitr/Idul Fitri. 14% preferred the dates during the time of Eid and 13% prefers to travel 2-6 days after Eid.

Moreover, it was revealed that 45% of the consumers who observe Ramadan plan to perform mudik travel back to their hometowns this year. 33% do not plan to travel back, while 22% are undecided during the time of polling.

The said study was conducted online on 2-6 March, with 2,067 respondents in Indonesia aged 18 and above, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov.

Hong Kong – To make it easier for riders on the platform to plan their travels and have a ‘stress-free ride’ to and from the Hong Kong International Airport, Uber has announced the launch of its new feature, ‘Uber Travel’, along with its ‘Peace of Mind with Reserve’ campaign that offers trip promotions and travel amenities.

The new feature and campaign will help travellers from planning their trip, reserving a ride to the airport, to getting a complimentary travel kit including an eye mask and traveller sim card. 

With Uber Travel, Hong Kong travellers can plan on ground transportation ahead of important occasions. It will also enable riders to see all of their travel itineraries, such as flights, hotels and rides, all in one button.

In partnership with AwardWallet, Uber Travel also offers riders the option to manually import

and organise hotels, flights, and restaurant reservations into a single itinerary view. With this and Uber’s ride reservation feature Uber Reserve, the platform promises a ‘more reliable and stress-free ride experience.’

“We want every Uber trip experience to be comfortable and effortless. To celebrate the strong comeback of international travel and the government’s ‘Happy Hong Kong’ Campaign, we are offering travelers and our platform’s riders with trip promotions to try Uber Reserve – a feature that allows riders to book a ride through the app for up to 30 days ahead,” said Estyn Chung, general manager of Uber Hong Kong.

Chung added, “Whether at home town or overseas, Uber wants to make sure every trip of our riders is being well taken care of, and they can always count on the comfortable familiarity of an Uber experience.”

This follows Uber’s launch of Journey Ads in Australia, its first advertising option that is targeted for purchase-minded riders.

Melbourne, Australia – Creative agency Town Square crafts a new brand platform and integrated campaign for one of Australia’s leading travel and experience companies Journey Beyond to bring awareness about iconic rail journeys in Australia whilst inspiring tourists to visit the country.

Titled ‘Australia by Train’, this brand platform features iconic onboarding experiences of travellers who are riding the trains of The Ghan, Indian Pacific and Great Southern – which are included in the company’s portfolio of tour, cruise and destination brands – whilst showcasing tourist spots and activities that can be experienced in Australia.

The brand platform also encourages travellers to book reservations for the three train services to experience the memorable train journeys.

Brendan Day, creative director at Town Square, said that the brand platform shows a relevant and distinctive narrative that makes it different from other tourism products.

“This was about capturing the romance of a bygone era and the nostalgia that comes from it, but like the trains, always pushing forward in a progressive, considered and stylised way,” Day added.

Meanwhile, Justine Lally, general manager of marketing at Journey Beyond, said that she’s proud of the launching of Australia by Train integrated campaign.

“The trains are Australian icons and being able to evolve the brand to engage even more Australians and overseas visitors is incredibly exciting. I can’t wait to share more of what these trains have in store,” she added.

Other works from the brand platform will run nationally across television, print, OOH, online and social.

Singapore – Singapore Airlines, the national air carrier of Singapore and the market’s most considered brand, has released its latest global campaign which spotlights the real meaning of world-class. 

In collaboration with agencies TBWA\ and PHD, the latest campaign is presented through the eyes of the airline’s cabin crew who, through travel, encounters people, cultures, and places around the world, reflecting that the airline can bring this kind of exceptional experience to their customers.

Lee Lik Hsin, executive vice president for commercial of Singapore Airlines, said that the airline is committed to giving excellent service, citing that the customer is the ‘heart’ of everything they do. 

Mandy Wong, president of TBWA\ Singapore added, “We needed the new narrative to be futureproof so it could maintain relevancy in the ever evolving travel landscape of consumers’ changing travel motivations. With Welcome to World Class, it wholly captures the Airline’s unparalleled service leadership, and digital experience offerings.”

Other works from the campaign are shared across global and local channels from mainstream broadcast stations to digital and print, and key OOH placements in London, New York, Tokyo, and Singapore. More materials will be released this year such as new innovative media in the pipeline, with key brand assets, and content series starring its cabin crew through an authentic lens.

In 2021, the airline also released a campaign titled ‘Look forward to flying again with Singapore Airlines’, indicating a significant step in its recovery when the borders reopened across the world.

Singapore – Due to concerns about inflation and rising costs, travel and leisure e-commerce platform Klook’s new survey results have unveiled that four out of five travellers (77%) in Asia are anxious about travelling next year.

However, despite these concerns, 81% of the respondents still plan to travel, with one-third of them wanting to make two to four trips in 2023. Meanwhile, 92% of travellers in Singapore are likewise eager to travel.

The study also revealed that 63% of travellers in Asia are worried about the increasing travel prices, with Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan travellers ranking the highest for cost as a concern. Amidst this, 80% are still planning to spend the same or more on travel. 

Moreover, Singaporeans are among the most excited to travel despite their worries, with 40% intending to spend more on travel in 2023. Meanwhile, concerns around COVID-19 still stand, with 39% worried about catching the virus while on holiday. 

It also found that despite the anxiety over the global recession, Asians are still not giving up on travel as 35% of the respondents plan to opt for a nearer destination or travel during off-peak seasons, while 34% are willing to cut back on other expenses in order to save more for travel.

Marcus Yong, vice president for global marketing at Klook, predicts travellers will remain resilient against all odds in 2023. “After two years of being grounded, travel is now an experience that people treasure more than ever before, and this is clear from our survey data.”

He added, “Although travel behavior and attitudes have evolved in the past few years, we still see that travelers are ready to adapt and determined to travel no matter what it takes in search of the joys and rewards of travel.”

Yong also mentioned that 2023 is the year of ‘Travelsilience’, which stands for travel and resilience. This means that travellers pursue travel to create new experiences despite all struggles and hindrances.

The survey was conducted in November 2022 via Stickybeak, drawing 902 respondents across nine markets including Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and Korea.

Klook has previously partnered digital travel agency Booking.com to enable travellers to access Klook attractions directly on the latter’s platform.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – airasia Super App’s SUPER+,  its flight subscription offering, is now made available for purchase worldwide, enabling its subscribers to fly further and enjoy more perks across the whole airasia ecosystem.

SUPER+ will be offering two options for subscribers with different destination preferences: the SUPER+ Lite which covers all ASEAN countries, and the SUPER+ Premium which covers all countries operated by airasia including destinations in Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, Maldives, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Saudi Arabia. 

Both subscription plans include unlimited 10% off for airasia rides and an unlimited 5% discount on all hotels on the airasia Super App.

“For the first time, we are opening up the new SUPER+ for everyone across the globe to buy, even those in the US, Europe and all other regions. For travellers from the West, this SUPER+ product is the best flight and lifestyle subscription for them to fully maximise and obtain the best value to rediscover the beauty of Asia,” said Amanda Woo, CEO of airasia Super App.

She also shared that the initial launch last March gained more than 100,000 subscribers across Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines with over half a million flights already redeemed.

“We are excited to be the only super app platform in the market to bring a product such as SUPER+ to the world and for more to enjoy the airasia way of life with this subscription,” she added.

Meanwhile, Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, also commented, “The SUPER+ subscription captures the beauty of our airasia Super App platform ecosystem, which brings together all of our airlines and travel products and services like hotels, along with our e-commerce offerings such as airasia ride, which is also included as a SUPER+ benefit.”

The airasia Super App has also previously launched the in-app e-wallet feature ‘airasia pocket’, which enables users to reload and make payments for all products and services the app offers.

Singapore – Travel service provider Trip.com has launched a new interactive social campaign called ‘Just Like That’, which leverages the latest traveller preferences and insights to make it easier than ever for consumers to meet loved ones abroad and explore the world again as borders reopen and restrictions ease.

With many COVID-related travel constraints removed, Trip.com continues its journey to make reconnection and rediscovery a snap – especially with many avid travellers already setting out for their next adventure and exploring global destinations ‘Just Like That’.

As part of Trip.com’s first social campaign in Southeast Asia post-pandemic, the innovative travel service provider is collaborating with over 100 KOLs in markets across Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia to storytell the emotional aspects of travel, such as reconnecting with loved ones as well as showcasing the ease of using Trip.com for travel bookings. 

The KOLs include @adirasalahudi, @syarif.ig, @widsawaphatiew. The campaign will demonstrate how simple it is to book a fulfilling travel experience that fits each consumer’s needs, be it planning a romantic honeymoon in the Maldives, having an inspiring off-site meeting in Bali, or a culinary trip in Tokyo.

In addition, Trip.com will be running a #MyTripJustLikeThat giveaway on social media from now to 20 November 2022. Trip.com users from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand stand to win prizes worth up to S$1,200, MYR 4,200 and THB 35,000 respectively, including Trip coins, hotel vouchers, tickets and more.