How Shutter Happy Are You on a Beach Holiday?
This year, Expedia’s annual Flip Flop Report found that Asians are the world’s most inclined towards sharing their holiday snaps on social media, and that social media plays an influential role when deciding on their next beach destination.
Conducted online from March to April 2014, the Flip Flop Report is an annual survey that dives into the behaviour and attitudes towards beach vacations among 11,165 respondents in 24 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and South America.
Respondents from India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia shared between 29 to 50 photos/videos a week while on vacation – way above the global average of 19 photos/videos.
Worldwide, Indian travellers posted the most pictures per week (50), followed by Singaporeans (37), then Americans (35).
The Report also reveals that selfies are not as popular as scenery and group shots; Facebook rules; and Asian beach vacationers are more swayed by social media when holiday-planning than people in other parts of the world. “Asian travellers are not just booking their travel on their devices, they are also sharing their travel experiences and researching on mobile more readily than their Western counterparts” -Vikram Malhi, General Manager for Expedia in Asia.
YOU Wish You Were Here
Just why do we post our beach snaps on social media? While the majority want to share their unique vacation experience with friends (58%) or inspire them with beautiful images (53%), some also named ‘making their friends jealous’ (18%) as a reason.
Of these holiday-envy seekers, Asian beachgoers are more likely to play the jealousy game – with 29% posting pictures to make their friends envious, compared to the global average of 18%. Beachgoers from Hong Kong came in tops on this scale, as the most inclined towards making their friends see green, and Thais followed close behind at 36%.
#Selfie Syndrome
Asian travellers are also the master of selfies. A whopping 53% (the highest amongst all countries surveyed) of Thai beachgoers said they would share selfies. 40% of respondents from India, 38% of South Koreans and 35% of Singaporeans said the same. Who can blame us, we look good under the sun.
Facebook Rules
It seems when we’re done cursing at our friends for lounging about in paradise while we’re stuck at our desks, we turn that inspiration into a plan and book a flight out to those beautiful beach destinations ourselves. Holidaymakers globally use Facebook far more than other social media to get ideas of their next holiday.
The top Facebook users were from India. 83% from India shared their travel photos on Facebook, followed by Thailand (82%), and Malaysia (75%). Over in South America, Brazilians also love sharing their beach photos on Facebook (79%).
Instagram and Twitter are also fairly popular. Thais ranked as the biggest Instagram fans with 34% of Thai respondents (compared to the global average of 11%) indicating that they share beach vacation photos and videos on the platform.
Before the Beach
Social media also figures in holiday planning for Asian vacationers, with 60% of Asian respondents saying social media platforms were very/somewhat influential when choosing a destination for their beach vacation. Over in the West, they were less susceptible with only 39% in North America and 24% in Europe saying the same.
Expedia’s Beach Getaways promotion
In conjunction with the release of the Expedia® Flip Flop 2014 Report, Expedia’s Beach Getaways promotion lets travellers take their much-needed beach break with irresistible hotel deals. From 17 July – 17 August 2014, book on Expedia.com.sg and enjoy great hotel discounts of up to 70% on beach destinations across Asia such as Bali, Phuket, Krabi and more. Travel period: 17 July 2014 to 31 October 2014.
How shutter happy are you on your beach holidays?