SYDNEY: Different nationalities have distinct travel behaviours when it comes to budget, length of stay, choosing a destination or accommodation, according to research conducted by online travel agent Expedia.

Hari Nair, Global VP - Expedia Media Solutions, explained to the recent Mumbrella Asia Travel Marketing Summit that the business already has a wealth of data at its fingertips thanks to the 95 million unique users it sees on a monthly basis.

In addition to this first-party data, his team also runs research projects to gauge the state of the market, such as Expedia’s Multi-National Travel Trends survey which polled 8,000 people in mid-2017: 1,000 respondents each from Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the USA.

The first finding of this research was that most travellers need help deciding where to go. (For more on travel purchase behaviours, read WARC’s report: Expedia research reveals global travel trends).

“Travellers are super indecisive about where is it that they want to travel. In fact, they are shouting out to us saying, ‘We need help’,” said Nair, noting that Chinese travellers are the most indecisive but German travellers “know exactly what they want”.

Hotels are the number one preference for Japanese travellers while Americans and Canadians are fans of all-inclusive resorts. Europeans, on the other hand, tend to favour ‘alternative’ accommodation – Nair suggested was an indication of the number of travellers staying with family or at holiday homes they own.

Australians are much more independent when it comes to arranging their travel plans, he added. “Australia particularly stands out as being very, very comfortable going to hotel direct sites or airline direct sites.”

Making use of data is key for marketers in the travel space, Nair believes.

“Otherwise, you’re simply going to cast a very wide net hoping that something will stick,” he said. However, he also drew attention to the heart of the traveller.

“There is a lot that is about the heart and the mind, but it starts with the heart and the memories you would like to create when you travel.”

Sourced from WARC