Travelers across Asia are becoming more selective about how and when they engage with travel and hospitality brands. While personalized communication remains welcome, relevance, timing, value, and preferences around personal data are increasingly shaping those interactions.
Braze’s Asia Travel Report, based on research across six Asian markets, found that 87% of travelers respond positively to personalized communications, while 41% identify poor timing or excessive frequency as their biggest frustration with hospitality brands. Preferences also vary considerably between markets, from communication channels to attitudes toward sharing personal data.
To learn more, we spoke with Shahid Nizami, VP APAC & GCC at Braze, about what the findings reveal about traveler expectations, the differences between markets across Asia, balancing personalization with privacy, and how travel brands can remain globally consistent while creating experiences that feel local.
Braze’s latest Asia Travel Report found that travelers still want to hear from brands—but not with generic, one-size-fits-all messaging. What’s driving that shift in expectations?
Travelers are becoming more selective about what deserves their attention. Our research found that 87% of Asian travelers respond positively to personalised communications, but 41% identify poor timing or excessive frequency as their biggest frustration with hospitality brands.
This shift is driven by travelers navigating a large amount of communication, while setting a higher bar on what they consider worth engaging with. Every stage of the travel journey creates different needs, from planning and booking to travelling and returning home. A timely price alert adds value during the planning stage, but the same promotion sent after a trip simply creates noise.
Travel brands therefore need to understand the traveler’s immediate context and personalise the message, channel and timing accordingly.
Singapore travelers ranked phone calls as their least preferred marketing channel, while value and relevant offers remain the biggest drivers of bookings. What does that tell us about how travel brands should be communicating with customers today?
The findings point to a preference for convenience, control and clear value. Singapore travelers want information they can review on their own terms, rather than an interruption that demands an immediate response, like phone calls.
When it comes to value, travelers are not just looking for the cheapest deals. They’re weighing competitive pricing alongside relevant offers, to maximise benefits on every purchase.
This means that travel marketers need to deliver compelling value propositions tailored to local sensibilities, while sending personalised and useful information that travelers can access at their convenience.
The report suggests that trust, immediacy, and cultural expectations all shape how people want to be communicated with across Asia. How much do those preferences vary from market to market, and what are some of the biggest differences you’ve observed?
Braze’s Asia Travel Report found that while travelers across Asia share the same core expectations of relevance, value, and respect for their preferences, the biggest differences lie in channel preferences and attitudes towards data sharing.
While email is the preferred communication channel across Asia, secondary preferences vary considerably. Singapore consumers lean towards SMS after email, Thailand places greater emphasis on in-app notifications, while messaging apps rank highly in markets like Indonesia. For marketers, this means tailoring omnichannel strategies to local behaviours rather than applying a standard channel mix.
Singapore consumers lean towards SMS after email, Thailand places greater emphasis on in-app notifications, while messaging apps rank highly in markets like Indonesia.
We also see differences in attitudes towards data sharing. For example, Hong Kong consumers would like brands to use their data to offer discounts, but Indonesian consumers are more cautious, with 34% believing brands should never use personal data for marketing. This reinforces the need for market-specific data strategies, with greater transparency and stronger consent practices in privacy-conscious markets.
Brands that can balance local communications preferences with transparent data practices will be better positioned to create meaningful customer relationships in Asia.
Travel brands are often trying to connect with customers across dozens of markets, languages, and cultures at once. How do you maintain a consistent global brand while still making the customer experience feel genuinely local?
Strong global brands stay consistent in what they stand for, but are flexible in how they bring that promise to life.
Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) international campaign, Made in Singapore, shows how brand messaging can be adapted for each market. For example, its Australia campaign encouraged people to travel outside their algorithms, using Australian personalities and familiar digital behaviours, while still meeting the overall objective of making Singapore an attractive tourist destination.
Strong global brands stay consistent in what they stand for, but are flexible in how they bring that promise to life.
Travel brands can do the same to reflect the cultural and communication preferences that matter locally. A unified customer engagement strategy should provide the foundation, while giving local teams the flexibility to adapt storytelling, channels, offers, and timing to each market. Customers should recognise the same brand wherever they travel, while feeling the experience was designed for them.
The report examines how travelers respond best to communications that are timely, relevant, and respectful. What contextual messaging practices have you seen work particularly well for travel brands?
Contextual messaging starts with understanding where a traveler is in their journey. Signals such as booking history, browsing behaviour and loyalty status help brands anticipate what information or support is needed next.
The challenge is doing this consistently across thousands of travelers. As customer data becomes richer and more complex, AI helps marketers turn those signals into action by identifying the right message, channel and timing for each traveler at scale.
One such example is Dayuse. Rather than sending the same re-engagement campaign to every traveler, it tailored each message based on individual travel preferences using AI-powered decisioning. That approach doubled incremental revenue from one campaign and increased overall booking conversion rates by 90%.
With data spanning six Asian markets and different types of travelers, was there anything in the findings that genuinely surprised you or challenged Braze’s expectations going into the research?
One finding that stood out was how travelers defined value. With the rising cost of living, coupled with a cultural emphasis in Asia to maximise the benefits of each purchase, travelers are becoming more deliberate about how they spend on travel. However, instead of chasing the cheapest deal, they’re looking for the best overall value through competitive pricing and relevant offers.
One finding that stood out was how travelers defined value. With the rising cost of living, coupled with a cultural emphasis in Asia to maximise the benefits of each purchase, travelers are becoming more deliberate about how they spend on travel.
Travel brands have an opportunity to compete on more than price by showing customers how they can get more meaningful experiences from every booking.
There’s growing concern about data privacy alongside rising expectations for personalised experiences. How can travel brands strike the right balance, using traveler data in ways that feel helpful rather than intrusive?
Travelers are generally willing to share personal data, but this depends on whether they can clearly see the benefit they receive. Our research found that 69% of Asian travelers are comfortable with brands using their data to provide discounts, exclusive offers, and rewards.
Additionally, brands can build on this customer relationship by being transparent about how data is used and giving customers control over their data preferences, and ensuring every use of customer data delivers an obvious benefit. Human judgement also remains essential in deciding how that information should be applied in ways that feel helpful rather than intrusive.
Looking ahead, what do you think will separate the travel brands that build lasting customer loyalty from those that simply add to the marketing noise?
As traveler expectations continue to rise, travelers are only going to become more selective about the brands they engage with. Throughout our research, we saw the same expectations emerge consistently. Travelers prefer relevant offers over blanket promotions, timely communication over constant communication, and a clear benefit in exchange for sharing their personal data. Brands that consistently meet those expectations will be the ones that earn lasting loyalty.
Meeting those expectations consistently becomes much harder as every traveler expects a personalised experience. AI tools, such as agents and decisioning support, will help marketers identify the right message, channel, and timing at scale. The real advantage will come from using data, automation, and human judgement to build loyal customer relationships.
You can download the Braze report here.
