The Travel Research Seminar 2016

Papers now available for purchase (scroll for more info)

BVA BDRC Group held its hugely successful inaugural Travel Research Seminar on 17th August 2016. Based on extensive market research of business & leisure travellers in Asia (including the outbound Chinese traveller), three papers gave insight into:

• What makes the business & leisure traveller 'different' from your average consumer
• Their booking pathways and how to influence their choices along the travel purchase path
• Placing a monetary value on the consumer value-add of a travel brand, with a focus on brands in the hotel sector
• Their media touchpoints, so you know how to reach them and how to influence them
• Innovative ways to research this important consumer segment

THE BOOKING PATHWAYS OF BUSINESS & LEISURE TRAVELLERS, WITH A FOCUS ON THE ROLE OF DIGITAL CHANNELS

Piers Lee, Managing Director, BVA BDRC Asia, Singapore

Digital channels (whether brand.com, OTA or meta-search) have come to dominate the booking pathways of many consumers.  But where do you influence the traveller during their purchase path?

Using proprietary data from BVA BDRC's global Hotel Guest Survey we reported on how travellers search and book their travel, with a special feature on the outbound Chinese traveller and the emerging homestay / shared economy accommodation market. Looking at the role of reputation and recommendation, this paper also presented findings from the Global Tourism Monitor, reporting on the relative attractions of Singapore among inbound travellers as compared to other destinations in Asia.

USING 'BRAND MARGIN^®' TO UNDERSTAND THE VALUE-ADD OF YOUR TRAVEL BRAND

Dr Crispian Tarrant, Chief Executive, BVA BDRC Group, London

Developed by BVA BDRC's London-based Media & Brands team in the context of advertising and FMCG, Brand Margin^® was central to the paper that won the Media Marketing Research Awards Grand Prix for the most important development in UK media research in 2015.  Brand Margin^® describes The perceived financial premium a brand name adds to the intrinsic value of a specific product or service.

The methodology applies the 'wisdom of crowds' approach, with indirect question formats to reveal what it is consumers really think about the value of different brands.  At the UK Annual Hotel Conference in October 2015, we revealed an application of Brand Margin^® in the hotel sector, in what was the highest rated session of the conference.

This paper shared both the thinking behind Brand Margin^® and some of the original UK results for hotels and airlines along with the inaugural results for hotel brands in Asian markets. One of the most significant findings of Brand Margin^® is the high value it attributes to brands amongst Gen Y travellers.

NEW WAYS OF RESEARCHING THE TRAVELLER

Pei Yoke Loh, Senior Research Manager, BVA BDRC Asia, Singapore

Whether a resort manager, media owner, or manufacturer of luxury goods, you want to know how to reach the international traveller. It is notoriously difficult to survey the higher end of the travel market but, through a unique technology partnership, BVA BDRC has developed an innovative way of accessing the air traveller for a range of market research purposes.

This paper introduces Media GPS: a first application of this approach, that gives media companies and their clients a better understanding of travellers' media touchpoints, and 'what makes them tick'. This included a presentation of the pilot results, collected from travellers flying to or from Changi Airport, that demonstrate these are very heavy consumers of media, and quite different types of media compared to the average individual.

Copies of each paper are available for purchase.

1. Booking Pathways = USD $600
2. Brand Margin^® = USD $600
3. Researching the Traveller (HGS media data of channels viewed/wanted when staying in hotels) = USD $400 - or $300 if bought with other papers.

USD $1,295 for all three, USD $999 for papers 1 and 2.

Please fill in the form or contact us on +65 62587109 or piers.lee@bdrc-asia.com with the details of which paper you would like and the payment method you prefer.