- Ground-breaking report focuses on social media behaviour patterns
- Weibo to highlight how to reach China’s first, second and third tier cities
ILTM Asia, 2 – 5 June 2014,
Shanghai
@ILTM_events / #ILTMAsia
ILTM
Asia – the largest and most exclusive gathering of luxury travel
professionals in Asia – opening today in Shanghai, will reveal a
new report identifying a unique insight into luxury travel trends on
Asian social media, including key differences by country and
demographic. Produced by Brand Karma, ‘The Luxury Traveller &
Social Media: Asia’ was commissioned by ILTM to help luxury
hoteliers and travel advisors identify and understand the experiences
that Asian luxury travellers seek and share online.
In
addition, Ge Jingdong, Vice-President of Weibo, China’s leading
social networking platform will speak at the ILTM Asia Opening Forum,
revealing details of how - with 618 million internet users, and
10,000 dedicated digital social marketing agencies specialising in
travel in China - social media is playing an increasingly important
role in reaching high end travellers from the country’s first,
second and third tier cities.
‘The
Luxury Traveller & Social Media: Asia’ reveals that luxury
travellers from the Asia Pacific are more active on social media than
any other region, using social media to research and share their
travel experiences at an unprecedented growth rate. Between January
2012 and March 2014, social postings by Chinese luxury travellers
increased by 89% whilst other Asia Pacific regions saw an increase of
5%. In addition, hotel groups are using Facebook and Weibo creatively
to drive direct bookings, although mobile messaging Apps such as
WhatsApp are increasingly attracting market share. While many luxury
travel brands focus on social media to market their rooms, the report
also highlights that a relatively untapped opportunity is in the
lucrative areas of F&B and Spa.
‘The
Luxury Traveller & Social Media: Asia’ was produced by Brand
Karma, a specialist organisation that helps travel’s biggest brands
to attract and retain customers via social and digital media and will
be presented by the company’s COO and Co-Founder, Mario Jobbe at an
ILTM Asia Workshop on Monday 1 June. In comparing social media
sentiment in Asia to the rest of the world, the report reveals that
luxury travellers from Mainland China and Oceania place higher value
on helpfulness and efficiency of service whilst Asia Pacific
travellers, excluding China, prioritise breakfasts and peacefulness
in their reviews. The Chinese prefer to post on Ctrip and Weibo while
the others mostly use TripAdvisor and Facebook.
Following
the educational workshop where Mario Jobbe will present ‘The Luxury
Traveller & Social Media: Asia’ and the ILTM Asia Opening Forum
where Ge Jingdong will speak – both taking place on 1 June at the
Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shangahi, ILTM Asia will take place at the
Shanghai Exhibition Centre from 2 – 5 June. The unrivalled ILTM
Asia Pre-Scheduled Appointment and Online Diary programme allows
luxury travel buyers and exhibitors to meet in up to 69, 15 minute,
face-to-face, mutually matched meetings throughout each day of the
exclusive ‘invitation-only’ event.
To
download a copy of ‘The Luxury Traveller & Social Media: Asia’,
please go to
www.iltm.com/asia/digitalreport.
For further information regarding ILTM Asia, please visit
www.iltm.com/asia.
