Accor has released the results of the inaugural Accor Hotels Asia Pacific Social Media Monitor, highlighting interesting differences in the social media habits of travellers from across Asia Pacific.

　　Accor has released the results of the inaugural Accor Hotels Asia Pacific Social Media Monitor, highlighting interesting differences in the social media habits of travellers from across Asia Pacific, with Thai and Chinese respondents taking the lead as the region’s most active social media users, and Australians and New Zealanders coming in last.

　　Accor worked with ORC International to survey over 5,400 travellers across 11 countries in Asia Pacific (APAC) who had stayed in a hotel at least once in the past 12 months and who use social media at least once a week. The research sought to discover how social media impacts the way people research, experience and review their travel, before, during and after their trips.

　　With a fast-growing network of more than 560 hotels in 16 countries within APAC, Accor is uniquely placed to uncover the social media habits of travellers across the region. 45% of those surveyed were members of Accor’s powerful loyalty program, Le Club Accorhotels, which offers free membership and strong rewards and recognition at more than 2000 hotels globally.

　　"As a leader in digital distribution and online platforms, Accor wanted to establish which social media channels are most important for travellers in the region and understand how guests from different countries interact with hotels online and document their travels,” said Jens Uwe Parkitny, Vice President of Digital Marketing & Distribution – Asia Pacific.

　　"For example, the survey showed us that 59% of respondents would like to have a smartphone app to book hotels directly, but only 14% are interested in ordering room service via their smartphone or tablet,” he continued. “This helps us to better invest our efforts in online distribution and communication to suit our guests’ needs and requirements.”

　　Most plugged in

　　The most active social media users during their last trip were the Thais and Chinese, with 95% and 91% respectively having interacted in some way.

　　Conversely, 32% of New Zealanders and 25% of Australians surveyed said they did not interact at all during their last trip — the least active of all the countries surveyed.

　　Facebook is king

　　Facebook is the most universally used social network in APAC, with the top users being Thailand (72%), the Philippines (60%) and Singapore (55%). It’s only challenged by strong local players in some specific markets: WeChat and Sina Weibo in China, and Line in Thailand.

　　Interestingly, Google+ is gaining traction in the region, landing in second place, with 24% of respondents using it multiple times daily. Despite this overall growth, its usage remains very limited during (13%) and after (4%) trips.

　　Instagram gained surprisingly low scores, with just 12% of overall respondents saying they use it at least once a day.

　　Brand friendship

　　In terms of brands followed online, hotels, airlines and travel-related brands are the most popular in the region, with Chinese and Thai respondents the most fervent fans and the most likely to follow several brands.

　　Chinese follow the most hotel brands and airlines online. Chinese travellers have the highest share of upscale hotel customers (29% vs 16% overall) with key interest in looking for something unique and exclusive.

　　The key motivation to follow hotel brands online is to get discounts and special offers (77%), especially for respondents from the Pacific, China and Singapore.