Expedia 2014 Flip Flop Survey: Asian Beach Vacationers Post Most Holiday Snaps on Social Media

Report also reveals – selfies not as popular as scenery and group shots; Facebook rules; and Asian beach vacationers more swayed by social media when holiday-planning than their Western counterparts

Singapore, July 15, 2014 – Expedia.com®, one of the world’s largest full service online travel agency has released the results of its 2014 Expedia® Flip Flop report, an analysis of the behaviour and preferences among beachgoers around the world.

 [quote align=’right’]“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[/quote]Conducted online from 11 March to 2 April 2014 by Northstar, a global research and consulting firm, the survey 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.

The Flip Flop Report affirms that Asians are the world’s most inclined towardssharing their holiday snaps on social media, and that social media plays an influential role when deciding on their next beach destination.

“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,” said Vikram Malhi, General Manager for Expedia in Asia. “Mobile is a huge area of investment for Expedia, and the findings reinforce our aim to offer travellers a complete experience, from pre-booking to post-vacation, across devices.”

Photo-friendly

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).

Because Sharing is Caring

Just why do we post our beach snaps on social media? While majority of respondents globally said they want to share their unique vacation experience with friends (58%) or inspire them with beautiful images (53%), some also claimed making their friends jealous (18%) was a reason.

Of these, Asian respondents are more likely to play the jealousy game – with 29% (compared to the global average of 18%) posting pictures to make their friends envious. Hong Kongers came in tops (39%) as most inclined towards making their friends see green, and vacationers from Thailand followed close behind at 36%.

#Selfie Syndrome

While selfies have become a must for the socially-connected; they only came in as the fourth most popular kind of snaps that beach vacationers share. Globally, 79% of respondents said they would likely post scenery shots, while group/family shots (57%) and couple shots (48%) were also popular. Only 30% said they were likely to post ‘selfies’.

Asians are certainly more in love with their selfies than their Western counterparts though; 53% (the highest amongst all countries surveyed) of Thai beachgoers said they would share selfies, while 40% of respondents from India, 38% of South Koreans and 35% of Singaporeans said the same.

Facebook Rules

Facebook remains the most-used social media platform for beachgoers globally, followed by Instagram and Twitter. Top FB users were from India with 83% of respondents sharing their photos on FB, followed by Thailand (82%), Brazil (79%) and Malaysia (75%).

Thais also 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. Their Western counterparts were less susceptible with only 39% in North America and 24% in Europe saying the same.

Asians and Westerners were on par in their love for a good deal. 1 in 2 travellers said last minute package flight/hotel travel deals influenced their choice of destination. In Asia, Thais (67%) South Korean (65%) and Japanese (64%) respondents were most likely to have a bargain deal influence their choice of destination.

The Expedia® Flip Flop 2014 Report also threw up some interesting findings about Singaporean beach vacationers:

• Singaporeans love their spa and massage treatments more than any other nationality; One in 2 Singaporeans say a rub down was a requisite on beach vacations.

• 76% are headed for a beach holiday in the next 12 months; of these beach heads, 70% associated their overall happiness with regular beach vacations.

• The top 3 indulgences for Singaporeans on their beach holiday are eating more food than they usually would, spending more food than they usually would and spending time at the spa.

• The top 3 sacrifices Singaporeans would make for an extra beach vacation are: A month’s gym membership, a week’s salary, and a month’s expenses on accessories/toiletries.

• Beach vacations aren’t all fun and games. 81% of Singaporean respondents say risk of theft made them feel most anxious when they think about taking a beach vacation while quality of the hotel (76%) and their kids(75%) also ranked high as stress points.

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.

About Expedia
Expedia is the one of the world’s largest online travel company. It prides itself in helping travellers plan and book their travel by providing a personalized service, the latest technology, as well as a wide selection of over 240,000 hotels and 400 airlines. Every local website offers holiday packages, cheap flights, hotel bookings, car hire and in-destination attractions to suit all travelling needs.

In Asia, Expedia operates 11 sites including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and India.

Download this release here: Expedia Flip Flop Report 2014