The Hospitality and Tourism Industry in ASEAN and East Asian Destinations

New Growth, Trends, and Developments

Jinlin Zhao, Lianping Ren, Xiangping Li

• Publisher: Apple Academic Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000164718
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

This new volume addresses the growing interest to understand tourism and hospitality in Southeast and South Asia, two regions that have seen tremendous growth in international tourists in recent years. It explores the current development of hospitality and tourism industry in the regions of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as well as other key countries in Southeast and South Asia.

The Hospitality and Tourism Industry in ASEAN and East Asian Destinations: New Growth, Trends, and Developments provides updated findings and case studies that highlight opportunities and issues of tourism and hospitality development in ASEAN. Chapters cover such diverse topics as:

• Online marketing strategies
• Sustainable hospitality development
• Diversification efforts of the tourism industry
• Innovations in independent hotels
• Wildlife tourism in urban destinations
• The Vietnamese national park system
• Consumers' positive and negative images of certain destinations
• Much more

While academicians will benefit from the updated research findings summarized by the respected scholars, hospitality professionals will also find the book a valuable source of information as the chapters delve into the most recent topical and industry focused issues.

CHAPTER 1
TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: CAPTURING THE CUSTOMERS ONLINE

KIRTI DUTTA^* and H. G. PARSA^*

G. L. Bajaj Institute of Management & Research, India, and Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, USA

^*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Asia and the Pacific region account for the second highest share in the global tourist arrivals and tourism receipts with Southeast Asia accounting for 37.3% and 33.6%, respectively, for the same. Five countries namely Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam, in Southeast Asia, account for 84% of tourism arrivals and 90% of tourism receipts.. The geographic proximity and competitive attractions provided necessitate strategic online marketing as most of the consumers are going online for their purchases including purchases related to travel needs.

The current chapter looks at the online marketing strategy of these five countries and explores how they are trying to capture the online customers. A primary research was carried out on the Google search engine as it has more than 90% of the market share to see how these countries perform for three search results—country name; country name and tourism; country name and tourist destinations. It is interesting to note that the government websites for various countries are not consistently appearing in all the search results. Mediators like MakeMyTrip, Tripadvisor, Hotels.com are consistently appearing in the Southeast Asian countries studied. Hotels, airlines, etc. are conspicuous by their absence on the first page and need to relook their search engine marketing and search engine optimization strategies.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Economic growth coupled with job creation, environmental protection, development, and cultural preservation are some of the impacts of tourism sector. More specifically travel and tourism accounts for 10% of the World’s GDP, 30% of services exports, and 7% of world exports and one in every 10 jobs in the year 2017 (UNWTO, 2018). Upsurge in global economy and robust demand from source markets resulted in an increase in international tourists by 6% during first half of the year 2018, with biggest growth came from Southeast Asia and Southern Europe. China was the top source market for out bound tourism in the world. Growth in Asia was driven by South Korea and India (UNWTO cited in Vietnam Investor Review, 2018).

Southeast Asia includes 11 countries namely Brunei, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines, Laos, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and Timor Leste. In 2017, Southeast Asia received 37.3% of international tourist arrivals and 33.6% of international tourism receipts for Asia and Pacific region, which has 24% share of the global pie for tourist arrivals, and 29% for tourism receipts. Southeast Asia also accounted for 24.9% of outbound tourism generation in the year 2017. Globally, Asia and the Pacific region ranks second for both tourism arrivals and outbound tourism. It has the highest growth in Asian subregion due to robust demand, visa exemptions, and improved air connectivity (UNWTO, 2018).

1.2 TOURISM TRENDS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Contributions by travel and tourism directly to the GDP in Southeast Asia is expected to rise from US$ 135.8 billion in 2017 to US$ 245.5 billion by the year 2028. The total contribution to GDP is expected to rise from US$ 329.5 billion in 2017 to US$ 598.3 billion by the year 2028. The contribution to the job market will rise from 4.7% to 5.6 % of the total employment in the same time period. The various parameters to capture the long-term growth scenario from the year 2018–2028 (with adjustments made for inflation) (WTTC, 2018) are summarized in Table 1.1. A comparison with the world’s growth figures shows that Southeast Asia is growing at a faster rate compared to the world growth rates.

TABLE 1.1 Southeast Asia's Travel and Tourism Long-Term Growth 2018–2028.

S. No.	Parameter	Southeast Asia % growth per annum	Asia % growth per annum	World % growth per annum
1	Direct contribution to GDP	5.5	5.6	3:8
2	Total contribution to GDP	5.5	5.5	3.8
3	Direct contribution to employment	3	2.2	2.2
4	Total contribution to employment	2.8	2.9	2.5
5	Visitor exports relative to total exports of goods and services	5.4	4.3	4.1
6	Domestic spending relative to whole economy GDP	5.1	6.1	3.9
7	Leisure spending (direct contribution calculated as share of whole economy GDP)	5.5	5.9	4.1
8	Business spending (direct contribution calculated as share of whole economy GDP)	4.7	5.0	3.2
9	Capital invested (relative to whole economy investment)	5.4	5.5	4.3

Source: World Tourism and Travel Council, 2018.

Southeast Asia includes 11 countries namely Brunei, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines, Laos, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and Timor Leste, and their percent share of tourism arrivals and receipts for Asia and the Pacific region is detailed in Table 1.2 in descending order.

TABLE 1.2 Percent Share of Tourism Arrivals and Receipts by Southeast Asian Countries.

Country	%share of tourism arrivals	% share of tourism receipts
Thailand	11.0	14.8
Malaysia	8.0	4.7
Singapore	4.3	5.1
Indonesia	4.0	3.2
Vietnam	4.0	2.3
Philippines	2.0	1.8
Cambodia	1.7	0.9
Myanmar	1.1	0.6
Laos	1.0	0.2
Brunei	0.1	-
Timor Leste	0	0
Total	37.3	33.6

Source: United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2018.

The top five countries in Southeast Asia that account for 84% of tourism arrivals and 90% of tourism receipts are Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It is interesting to note that not only inbound but also outbound tourism from Southeast Asia is growing with consumers slated to spend US$ 200 billion for online travel booking (OTB) by the year 2025.

1.3 ONLINE MARKETPLACE

1. Market Size: Traditionally, online marketplace offers vast number of opportunities for reaching out to consumers anytime and anyplace. The Southeast Asia’s internet economy is growing three times faster compared to the United States, and is worth US$ 50 billion (Wan, 2018) in 2017 and the four major contributors are online media, online travel, food and transport, and e-commerce. Among these four, online travel is the largest industry worth US$ 27 billion (2017) and expected to reach US$ 43 billion by 2020. Online travel grew at a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 18% during 2015–2017 and its future potential can be gauged by the fact that only 35% of bookings are being made online. It is interesting to note that the top five countries mentioned in Table 1.2 are also the constantly evolving countries with huge opportunities with Indonesia being the fastest growing economy with the largest travel market. Its travel market for online booking is expected to reach US$ 12.98 billion by the year 2020.
2. Digital Traveler: More than 90% of “digital travelers” in Southeast Asia carry smartphones and spend 3.6 h every day with their cell phones which is more than any other online consumer in the world. About 70% of the consumers are influenced by videos and 50% consumers are influenced to make a purchase by online advertising. Money is not the prime consideration but engaging content and speed, along with personalization are important. Interestingly, a majority of consumers are willing to pay additional money for quality experience. Thus, customer engagement can be done by providing quality brand experience to the customers according to Hermione Joye, Head, Google Travel, Asia Pacific (Wan, 2018).
3. Women Traveler: Increasingly, women are venturing out of their comfort zone and undertaking women-only journeys. It is interesting to note that three fourths of cultural, nature, and adventure travelers are women (Muirden, 2018). A study by booking.com shows that this is because they feel that travelling alone empowers them. Booking accommodation from trusted sites and staying connected with family and friends through social media plays an important role in boosting their confidence (booking.com, 2014)
4. Technological Advances: Technological advances have allowed companies to enhance the experience of the customers who are all tech-savvy. For example, the launch of accelerated mobile page of Malaysian Airlines has helped reduce the page load time by 17 s from 20 s previously. This helped increase ROI on generic pages by 93%. Launch of progressive web app (PWA) by MakeMyTrip helped reach consumers with low-end devices who did not have space for an app on their mobile phone, thereby incre...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Series Page
• About the Editors
• Contents
• Contributors
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• 1. Tourism and Hospitality in Southeast Asia: Capturing the Customers Online
• 2. What Are the Opportunities and Challenges to Hong Kong in the Development of the Greater Bay Area?
• 3. Stakeholder Engagement in Making Macau a Sustainable Tourism Destination
• 4. Diversification of Macao’s Tourism Development: A Review
• 5. The Bed and Breakfast Industry in Taiwan
• 6. Destination Images of Thailand: Current and Future Development
• 7. Innovation Exertions in the Thai Hotel Industry
• 8. The Development of the Vietnamese Park System: Management Model and Carrying Capacity
• 9. Sustainable Tourism and Community Development in Malaysia
• 10. Development and Innovations of the Hotel and Air Transport Industry in Singapore
• 11. Wildlife Tourism in Urban Destinations: Singapore’s Urban Otters and “Biodivercity” Story
• 12. Philippine Tourism vis‑à‑vis ASEAN: A Review of Key Issues
• 13. A Portrait of Indonesian Tourism: Present and future
• 14. Hotel Managers’ Views about Trade Unions: A Tale of Continuity and Change in Nepal
• Index