Special Report: Social Media
Mobile technology on the march
March 1st 2013
A study released by IT provider Amadeus, in January, showed it is critical for airlines to keep up with the march of mobile technology. Read More » Developed by consultants, Frost & Sullivan, it surveyed 1,531 business and leisure travellers in seven key Asia-Pacific markets: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Singapore.
Among its findings:
• Forty percent of business passengers and 25% of leisure travellers now routinely use mobile devices for travel-related arrangements and bookings. This is expected to rise to about 45% and more than 50% respectively, by 2030.
• Smartphone and tablet usage is strong in Singapore, Korea and Australia and growing rapidly in developing markets such as China and Indonesia.
• Usage of smartphones by business travellers in China, India, Indonesia and Korea is especially high.
• Social media is changing the way people gather information about their travels.
• Just under one third of passengers now use social media when travelling, with Indian and Indonesian travellers being particularly avid users.
• Sixty one percent of Indonesian passengers questioned said they frequently use social media during their trips, mainly to seek advice.
