Far and wide flies the female eye
As women travellers grow rapidly in terms of numbers due to an increase in spending power, Asia’s travel industry responds with a greater focus on safety, wellness and the web
Making around 125 million trips a year with rising figures in Asia, women are set to play a decisive role in the development of the travel, hospitality and tourism sectors for at least the next ten years. According to Abacus CEO and president Don Birch, “Asian women are travelling like never before. From the young to businesswomen to energetic grandmothers, they are travelling solo, with their female companions or as members of women-only interest groups.”
Latest travel figures from a recent MasterCard study on women travellers of Asia Pacific now indicate that around four in every ten Asian trips are made by women travellers - up significantly from the mid 1970s trend of just one in ten trips being made by a woman.
“As the Asian economy and its travel industry continue to mature, we can soon expect 50:50 ratio of men to women travellers - if Asia follows the trend of Western economies,” says Birch.
Eventually it is likely that women travellers will dominate an entire niche of the travel industry and it is even possible that they will overhaul men as the most number of travellers.
A 2007 MasterCard survey of personal travel conducted in major Asian markets found that 42 per cent of the women surveyed had travelled in the past 12 months compared with 37 per cent of the men. A host of demographic, economic and lifestyle features lie behind the rising proportion of women travellers, but most of all, women are travelling “because they can,” says Birch. The most active women travellers are from developed wealthier cities such as Tokyo, Singapore, Taiwan, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. These cosmopolitan travellers tend to have higher education levels, high disposable income, and are tech-savvy and increasingly adventurous.
Following the footsteps of their urban counterparts in the West, these jetsetters are likely to make as many as four trips a year and belong to a frequent flyer programme or two hotel loyalty schemes. “Thirty years ago, Asian women mainly holidayed with their husbands or their family. Now more women are choosing to travel with other women rather than with a male companion such as a husband or boyfriend,” Birch says.
Lifestyle is a key factor influencing how and why women travel, whether it is the ‘newly wealthy’ young professional women travelling to resort destinations to relax and party, or the growing bands of active senior women travelling in groups after experiencing the loss of a spouse. Women corporate travellers are on the rise too, as women take a stronger hold on the reins of business. Says Roger Pfund, general manager and vice president (Asia Pacific Operations) for BCD Travel, a corporate travel management specialist, “Travel service providers must increase their knowledge bases to cater to the needs of the new generation of women business travellers who are plugged in as business leaders in the global economy. This extends to everything from finding out more about the accommodation options which appeal to women travellers, to appreciating their safety concerns when it comes to transfer options.”
Rise of the shopping traveller
While women travel for mostly the same reasons that men do, Asian women travellers are also proving dedicated shoppers. According to a MasterCard Asia Pacific Asian Lifestyles Survey, the top five activities for female travellers are (in order of importance) shopping, places of cultural or historic interest, beach resorts, nature or adventure spots and family resorts.
“To tap the massive spending power of women travellers effectively, travel service providers such as airlines, hotels, resorts, restaurants and banks must first understand the needs and wants of women travellers. Only by knowing what women really want can they work with travel agents to creatively package special deals and rates to capitalise on the opportunities presented by women travellers,” remarks Birch.
Spa me
Health, wellness and beauty are high on the agenda when women travellers are planning their holidays, and the women’s dollar is the single largest factor behind the ’spa-ification’ of the Asian hotel industry. “While a few select groups of men are starting to climb the spa bandwagon, this is overwhelmingly a women-driven phenomenon as hotel after hotel across Asia remodel themselves to incorporate luxury, indulgence and wellness features,” Birch says.
The spa industry is estimated to be growing at an annual rate of 200 per cent in the Asia Pacific region, according to the Spa Management Journal, with growth expected to peak in 2010.
Kesari Tours of Mumbai recognises what it calls ‘woman power’. According to Sudhir Patil, their first ‘ladies special’ recently travelled from India to Bangkok with 320 ladies keen to experience Thai marriage ceremonies and spa activities. “This area of women’s travel was neglected. Now spa and wellness are being widely discussed in the Indian market and are getting a very positive response from women customers,” comments Patil.
“In relation to spas you could say the women’s travel dollar has spawned an entirely new industry,” Birch said. He added that women travellers were also making their influence felt as green travellers, contributing to the growing number of eco-retreats and attractions. “It may indeed be the case that women are more likely to value relaxation amid natural surroundings,” he added.
Safety first
While both men and women travellers share general concerns over terrorism and health issues, women’s safety needs and social concerns are quite different. Birch says, “While women do not want to miss out on the experience of travelling, many have concerns about travelling alone. In particular, areas of concern are safety, and how accommodating the local culture, religion and environment will be to them as women.”
As a result, the last few years have seen a surge of high-end hoteliers offering secured floors for women. In India, for instance, five-star hotels are devoting entire floors to women business travellers, and providing enhanced security and female housekeeping staff, as well as other special services and amenities. In Hong Kong, the Fleming Hotel became one of the city’s first hotels to create a dedicated women’s floor in February this year, while the Jumeirah Emirates Tower Hotel in Dubai became the first hotel in the Middle East to feature a women-only floor.
Web-wise women
Just as important as understanding the concerns and interests of women when they travel is knowing what source of information they use in their planning process. ‘Word of mouth communication’ ranks number one as a source of information for women travellers, followed by the internet, travel agents, travel guides and newspapers. “The internet is becoming a highly valuable resource for women. Travel agents should enhance and upgrade their online technologies and explore the possibility of creating women-only travel websites to capture this sophisticated segment,” Birch says.
This would include niche advertising and co-promotions with the growing number of women-focused travel websites. Online travel agency Zuji’s latest online travel report showed that 44 per cent of bookings were made by female travellers, a 12 per cent increase since 2005. Meanwhile, earlier this year, American Airlines created the first airline website (AA.com/women) specifically for the 48 per cent of its current customers who are women.
Niche opportunities for travel agents
Abacus is working closely with its network of travel agents, airlines and other content providers, to identify new ways of tailoring solutions to help meet the growing demand for travel services from women travellers. An Abacus survey of more than 1,500 agents in 2006 revealed that price competition on fares is the single greatest challenge facing travel agents in the region today.
“Women travellers present a very attractive opportunity for the many Abacus connected travel agents who are keen to move into higher value sectors such as specialised travel and tailored services and advice,” Birch says.
As Asia’s travel industry matures, it must adapt services to meet the needs of this unique market. Along with the significant influence of women over the purchase of family travel, the women’s market is one that the travel industry neglects at its peril, as this market will keep growing in Asia for at least the next decade.
Source: Abacus International
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 at 12:21 pm and is filed under Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
