The development of technology has changed activities in people’s lives, including tourism. Young tourists are tech-savvy and often travel, so choosing services when travelling is inevitable.
Mobile applications to select travel services of Generation Z in the digital transformation period have increased rapidly in the past two years, and especially in Asia, travel apps see great growth potential.
Thanks to today’s travel apps, young people feel more comfortable when travelling. Isn’t this also an opportunity for businesses to build good travel apps? While the western market shows clear developments in travel apps, let’s look at the potential market: Asia.
Travel-addicted youngers present prospects for travel apps development
However, the use of technology to select services in tourism is not accepted by all customers, although the benefits of technology are clear. Many customers are still concerned and not bold in using mobile devices to book services when travelling, except for young visitors, in the Y and Z generation.
Generation Z (born after 1995), accounting for 32 per cent of the global population, surpasses the Millennium (31.5 per cent) for the top spot in terms of numbers. Generation Z travellers have a sense of global awareness. They move freely across borders, and above all, they give travel priority.
65 per cent of Generation Z travellers rate “travelling and seeing the world” as the most important way to spend their money. Despite being budget-conscious, Gen Z will spend more on experiential travel, allowing them to explore life like a local rather than a tourist.
Solo travel: youngsters’ best friend”
In the old days, solo exploration of a strange place was quite a “luxury” because you needed a fairly large knowledge of geography and culture. However, the developed world has it all reduced to the mobile phone. Travelling alone has become a hot trend among youngsters recently.
A survey by the UK’s largest online behavioural research centre – Hitwise, shows that the keyword “solo travel” has increased by 143 per cent in the past three years. This result was obtained based on the analysis of more than three million British searches. Southeast Asia and New Zealand are the two most ideal destinations in the eyes of those contemplating a solo trip.
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In the Asia-Pacific region, governments are stepping up the exploitation of big data not only to promote tourism but also to develop and implement tourism-related policies.
It can be said that allowing young people to freely decide whether to travel freely or travel alone is a big contribution from convenient travel apps. Travel apps solve everything you need when travelling, and that’s why it’s more and more popular among young people.
The development of technology in the 4.0 era is also one of the causes and impacts on the development of solo travel. With the support of technology, a series of applications providing travel services have become popular worldwide, from booking airline tickets and booking hotels to restaurants and car rentals can be done on mobile phones.
Clear pictures of how Asians adore travel apps
83 per cent of smartphone owners in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) Region already has a travel-related app installed. One or more travel applications are already installed on a considerable portion of people’s cell phones in the APAC area. This indicates that individuals in the APAC region are interested in travelling both inside their region of the world and more broadly. It is substantially higher than many other regions of the world.
In the tourism industry in Asia, one of the most prominent names is Traveloka, with the position of leading the trend through a travel application that integrates two flight and hotel booking services. More than 80 per cent of travellers using Traveloka come from Asian countries like Indonesia, and 77 per cent of travellers use this travel app in Vietnam.
Next, you should not miss the Klook app — Asia’s largest destination travel booking service aimed at self-sufficient travellers (FITs), making it easy for them to book sightseeing tickets, tours, transportation, and activities with a network of more than 35,000 attractions at competitive prices. Hong Kong is where the majority of Klook.com’s users are from, followed by Taiwan, the Province of China, and Thailand.
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For tourists who love Vietnam, Foody, Lozi, or Food Places are great applications when aggregating dining places, restaurant reviews, small eateries, and roadside stalls with data warehouses in many provinces and cities, not only in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi. Vietnamese youth find using these apps convenient.
Gen Z’s interesting talks about travel apps
Young travel lover Maya from Thailand said, “Travel apps have become my go-to travel buddy.” You can now plan your destinations thanks to travel apps. When everything is planned out through a smartphone, there is no longer any surprise when setting foot in a new place. She had no idea how easy solo travel might be with these travel apps.
“Who needs a partner when you can plan a fantastic trip via phone,” said a young Filipino person in an interesting post. She used to fear getting lost or feeling lonely while travelling alone, but the travel app is like a fairy who makes things appear in front of her face. Just confirm, hop in the car to “Prom,” and enjoy yourself like Cinderella.
“Oh, Gofood — an app that saved my life in Vietnam,” said J. Although Vietnam is a stunning country with a lot to discover, he had never been there before, so on that particular day, he had no idea where to eat. Thanks to a mate who showed him how to download Gofood, J found a truly fantastic restaurant in Hanoi’s capital city within a matter of seconds, saving his life. “It’s incredible that this phone and this small software will someday be able to fill my stomach in this strange place”.
Opportunities for tourism startups to embark on developing travel apps
With the strong growth shown by the above numbers, solo travel is one of the new and hottest travel trends today. Grasping the potential market that continues to thrive, a series of travel tech companies in Asia have provided services and information aimed at this target audience.
The connection by information technology creates favourable conditions for all businesses to develop, especially SMEs that are not yet strong enough to reach out to the tech travel industry market and large-scale promotional activities.
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