AsiaRooms.com Launches Inaugural Traveller Confidence Index, Asia Reflects Highest Proportion of Online Bookings in Polls

MALAYSIA, 19 July 2012 - AsiaRooms.com – a leading online travel accommodation site based in Asia offering rooms in over 60,000 properties worldwide, today announced the release of its inaugural index researching global travel trends. The AsiaRooms.com Traveller Confidence Index (TCI) tracks leading indicators for travel propensity, spending confidence, and regional momentum to provide meaningful insights into the travel trends of both consumers and businesses from a demand perspective.

Commissioned by AsiaRooms.com, and in partnership with independent market research firm VisionOne UK, the study surveyed about 15,000 travellers worldwide during the first quarter of 2012. The survey topics focused on respondents’ travel experiences, online booking behaviour, spending and propensity for future bookings.

“As a leader in the online travel accommodation industry, AsiaRooms.com places our customers at the forefront, and focuses on understanding their different needs and wants. Our commitment towards customers has led to the development of this travel index, allowing us and our partners to better respond to the uniqueness of each region’s travellers,” said Andrew Pumphrey, Managing Director for AsiaRooms.com.

“The insights derived from the index allow us to develop effective go-to-market strategies, and offer tailored products and services that meets and exceeds the needs of our customers, ensuring they get the right room for their dream holiday, each and every time,” explained Clarence Lin, Brand Development Lead for AsiaRooms.com.

The survey covered 29 major travel markets in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region including Japan and Korea, and Oceania.

Asia Leads Online Usage for Bookings; Cost Savings Rank Lower on Priorities
Asia had the highest proportion of respondents having gone online to book for leisure and business accommodation at 70.3%. This compares to a global average of 63.2%; Europe at 63.2%; and Latin America at 51.6%. Within Asia, China had the highest proportion of direct online bookings at 57.5% of respondents, followed closely by Singapore at 57.4% and India at 55% of respondents respectively.

Asian travellers were also the least sensitive to cost with only 29% of respondents in Asia citing cost savings as the key determinant influencing their online bookings. This compares to the global average of 34%; 30.3% in Latin America; and 39.3% in Europe.

Spending and room booking results also reveal a disparity in confidence mirroring the ongoing economic uncertainty in the European and US markets relative to Asia’s strength. Travellers in Asia lead spending with 65.5 index points versus 62.9 points in Latin America, 53.3 points in Europe, and 49.3 points in the US.

Singapore led the Asia-Pacific region for overseas leisure travel with a propensity index score of 67.9 points versus Malaysia at 48.3 points, China at 62.8 points, and a global average of 61.4 points.

Latin America Most Bullish for Expected Accommodation Bookings, Followed by Asia
Travellers from Latin America are the most bullish in terms of expected travel accommodation bookings in 2012, leading all other regions with 66.7 index points. This is followed closely by Asia at 61.4 index points, and Europe trailing a large gap at 55.9 index points. Latin America and Asia are the only two regions to surpass the global average of 60.8 index points.

Latin America also leads in all travel categories surveyed, and specifically in domestic (in-country) and leisure travel propensity at 72.5 and 70.6 index points respectively. In contrast, domestic (in-country) and leisure travel propensity in Asia scored 64.7 and 64.6 index points respectively.

US and Europe Show Weakness in Business Travel
Business travellers from Europe and the US were the most pessimistic in terms of travel propensity with 51.8 and 49.8 index points respectively, against the global average of 57.1 index points. Asia and Latin America were ahead of the mean at 58.1 and 62.8 index points respectively.

Similarly, business travellers from Europe and the US expect to spend the least in 2012, with 53.1 and 49.3 index points respectively, against the global average of 62 points.
The compilation of the above data sets has been nominated from a comprehensive set of supplementary findings taken from the AsiaRooms.com Traveller Confidence Index 2012. The initial release of the findings covers macro-view datasets and regional-specific comparisons. Market or in-country specific datasets will be available in subsequent releases from AsiaRooms.com.

About The Index
The AsiaRooms.com Traveller Confidence Index was commissioned by AsiaRooms.com and conducted by VisionOne UK, an independent market research firm.

About 15,000 participants worldwide contributed to the index findings, comprising more than 500 respondents from 29 major travel markets worldwide, including the Americas, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and Oceania. Respondents were aged 18 and older, and had used the internet at least once in the past 12 months to search for travel accommodation options. 25 response datasets were used for 2012.

The index is calculated via an assigned value on a scale from 0 to 100, with 100 being the most positive response, and 0 being the least positive response. 50 is the assigned value for neutral responses.

VisionOne UK is an award winning research firm and an accredited member of the UK Market Research Society (MRS) and MRS Company Partners. Vision One Research operates a quality management system and is bound by the rules and regulations of the UK's Market Research Society (MRS). In addition, Vision One is committed to meeting the requirements of:
• UK Data Protection Act 1998
• European Directive EU 95.46/E
• ESOMAR (The World Association of Research Professionals)

AsiaRooms.com首次推出游客信心指数
亚洲在票选中反映了线上定购的最高比例

马来西亚2012年7月19日讯——一家位于亚洲的领先线上旅游住宿网站、全球共有超过60,000产业提供住宿房间的AsiaRooms.com，今天宣布它首次对全球旅游趋势进行指数研究的发布。

AsiaRooms.com的《游客信心指数》（TCI-Traveller Confidence Index）追踪游客的旅游倾向、消费信心和区域动力为消费者和业者从需求的角度上提供更有意义的旅游趋势透视。

由AsiaRooms.com所发起、并和独立市场调查公司VisionOne UK携手合作的这个计划，在2012年首季对全球20,000名旅客进行调查。该调查的主题注重在回应者的旅游经验、线上定购行为、消费和未来定购的倾向。

“在为一家线上旅游住宿界的领导公司，AsiaRooms.com一直都以客为先，并注重在了解他们不同的需求和期望。我们对客户的承诺造就了这项旅游指数的开发，允许我们和我们的合作伙伴对每个区域独特的旅客有更好的回应。” AsiaRooms.com董事经理Andrew Pumphrey如此表示。

“从指数上的透视让我们建立更有效的现实市场策略，并提供更客制化的产品和服务，以迎合或超越我们客户的需求，以确保他们可以在每一次梦幻假期中获得合适的房间。” AsiaRooms.com品牌发展主管Clarence Lin如此解释。

该调查覆盖美国、欧洲、亚太区域的33个旅游市场，当中还包括日本、韩国和大洋洲国家。

亚洲位居线上定购榜首；节省成本处于低重视
亚洲在回应者中曾有线上定购用于休闲或工作的住宿获得最高的比例，达到70.3%。全球的平均比例为63.2%；欧洲也是63.2%；拉丁美洲则是51.6%。在亚洲区域，中国在直接线上定购具有最高比例的回应者，达到57.5%，紧接下来的有57.4%的星加坡以及印度则有55%的回应者。

亚洲游客也是对成本最不敏感的一群，只有29%在亚洲的回应者会基于成本节省的因素成为影响他们线上定购的关键。这方面的全球平均比例为34%；拉丁美洲则是30.3%；而欧洲则是39.3%
消费和定购结果也可以揭示不同的信心，反映了欧洲和美国市场在亚洲优势影响下所面对持续性的无常经济。亚洲的游客在消费指数高居榜首，达到了65.5分，而拉丁美洲则是62.9分；欧洲为53.3分而美国则是49.3分。

新加坡在海外旅游倾向指数上高居榜首，超越其他亚太国家，达到了67.9分的比例指数。至于马来西亚则获得了48.3分、中国有62.8分以及全球的平均得分是61.4分。

拉丁美洲对住宿定购期望最乐观，紧接着为亚洲
来自拉丁美洲的游客在再2012年旅游住宿定购的期望最为乐观，超越其他区域达到了66.7分的指数。紧接着的有亚洲获得了61.4分的指数，而欧洲则具有较大的鸿沟指数，只有55.9分。只有拉丁美洲和亚洲超越全球的平均指数60.8分。

拉丁美洲也高居全部旅游调查类别的榜首，而他们在本地（国内）和休闲旅游倾向也分别达到了72.5分和70.6分的指数。相比之下，亚洲在他们本地（国内）和休闲旅游倾向只达到了64.7分和64.6的分指数。

美国和欧洲凸显了商务旅游的弱点
来自欧洲和美国的商务游客在旅游倾向属于最悲观的，在指数上只有51.8分和49.8分，而全球平均的指数为57.1分。亚洲和拉丁美洲超越平均分数，分别达到了58.1分和62.8分得指数
同样的，来自欧洲和美国的商业游客期望在2012年消费最少，分别的指数只有53.1分和49.3分，比起全球平均得分62来的少。

以上的资料通过AsiaRooms.com的《游客信心指数》内的各种分类调查结果而汇编。首次的发布覆盖了微型显示（macro-view）数据集和各个区域的比较。市场或国内的特定数据集将在AsiaRooms.com接下来的发布内公布。

关于该指数
AsiaRooms.com的《游客信心指数》（Traveller Confidence Index）是由AsiaRooms.com所发起，并和独立市场调查公司VisionOne UK携手合作。

全球大约有20,000名参与者贡献了该指数的结果，其中包括了全球33个主要旅游市场、超过500名的回应者，分别来自美国、欧洲、亚太区域和大洋洲。回应者的年龄位于18岁或以上，并在过去12个月内至少使用互联网一次来搜寻旅游住宿选项。在2012年共采用了25个回应数据集。

该指数基于0至100的分数计算，也就是100是最正面的回应，而0则是最负面的回应。50则是中立的数值。

VisionOne UK是一家获奖的研究公司，并受到英国市场调查协会（MRS-Market Research Society）认可的会员，以及是MRS公司的伙伴。Vision One Research运作在一个素质管理系统上，并遵从英国市场调查协会（MRS）的规章制度。此外，Vision One也承诺会符合以下的条件：
• 英国数据保护条例1998（UK Data Protection Act 1998）
• 欧洲欧盟指令（European Directive EU）95.46/E
• 欧洲民意测验和市场调研协会- ESOMAR（研究专业人员世界协会-The World Association of Research Professionals）