According to new research, the majority of APAC travellers now rely on peer recommendations and word-of-mouth referrals to guide travel-related purchases. Specifically, 75% of Chinese, 68% of Australians, and 63% of Singaporean travellers indicated peer recommendations as their top source of information.
Despite this, many brands still underinvest in these high-trust channels, highlighting a major opportunity for growth, according to the inaugural report released by Impact.com, titled Beyond the Booking: Where APAC Travel Brands Are Investing for Growth, in collaboration with Digital Travel Insights by WBR.
The report features perspectives from 100 marketing leaders in Southeast Asia and 1,200 travelers from Singapore, Australia, and China. It explores how businesses and consumers are responding to changes in the travel landscape across the Asia-Pacific region, while highlighting emerging priorities among travel brands and shifting behaviors among regional consumers.
“The modern consumer demands trust, transparency, and authenticity, and they turn to their communities and trusted sources of information to guide their purchasing decisions,” said Adam Furness, Managing Director APJ at impact.com.
Key findings from the report:
The study’s authors provided the following highlights:
Travelers Turn to Peer Recommendations Over Ads
The majority of APAC travelers now rely on peer recommendations and word-of-mouth referrals to guide travel-related purchases. Specifically, 75% of Chinese, 68% of Australians, and 63% of Singaporean travellers indicated peer recommendations as their top source of information. Despite this, many brands still underinvest in these high-trust channels, highlighting a major opportunity for growth.
75% of Chinese, 68% of Australians, and 63% of Singaporean travelers indicated peer recommendations as their top source of information.
At the same time, travelers in Singapore also rely on a broader range of platforms when making decisions. Comparison sites (74%), OTAs (65%), loyalty programs (51%), and social media (31%) all play a key role, highlighting the need for brands to maintain visibility across multiple touchpoints to effectively guide consumers along the purchase journey.
Brands Now Look Towards Partnerships to Build Trust and Drive Growth
In Singapore, 68% of travelers trust review and comparison sites the most, which is on par with China (72%) and ahead of Australia (59%). This presents an opportunity for brands to embed affiliate links in travel content and guides, capturing intent early in the decision-making journey.
To capitalise on these trends, savvy brands are broadening their partnership strategies by working with influencers, affiliates, OTAs, premium publishers, and other partners.
Savvy brands are broadening their partnership strategies by working with influencers, affiliates, OTAs, premium publishers, and other partners.
More than 1 in 4 marketers (27%) still turn to OTAs and aggregators to reach high-intent audiences. But with commission fees reaching up to 30%, many are re-evaluating their spend.
Meanwhile, 25% pointed to affiliate marketing as a growing priority, favoured for its performance-based structure that rewards partners only when bookings happen, while also meeting consumer demand for cashback, loyalty perks, and discounts.
Where Travel Marketers Are Doubling Down
While marketers indicate an emphasis on doubling down on online advertising (27%) and OTAs (28%), affiliate marketing (15%) and influencer marketing (11%) are playing an increasingly important role.
In Singapore, 45% of travelers trust affiliates and 63% trust influencers when planning their journeys.
In Singapore, 45% of travelers trust affiliates and 63% trust influencers when planning their journeys. This trend extends across the region, with 50% of Australian travelers trusting affiliates and 68% turning to influencers, and in China, 59% and 75%, respectively, highlighting the growing influence of these channels in travel decision-making.
Download the full report here.
