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Hint: It"s not men - Aesthetic, Modernity, Trendy, Renovated, Fancy; Why do these words matter? For one, any hotel would want these superlatives attached to their image. But more than that, those descriptions make up 70.6% of all positive attributes and, as the top 5, draw female travellers to certain properties, based on findings from our Brand Karma Analytics. (On the other end of the spectrum, “dingy,” “stained,” and “outdated,” which account for 42.8% of negative attributes, will certainly repel female guests.) But why do women travellers matter? Travel trends and key target tourists of late have certainly highlighted other customer segments, the Chinese, the wealthy, or both at once notwithstanding. But the rise of another group should not go undetected, especially given their dominance of social media: women travellers. As women assume the front-row seat, their online and social networking behaviour has necessitated adaptations in the travel industry. In addition to influencing online purchasing, women represent the driving force behind travel decisions, social media use, and guest reviews. But to what extent is their impact? In Asia-Pacific in particular, use of social media in travel has risen exponentially in comparison to other major regions like the US and Europe, a trend that occurred in part because of the women. A study conducted late last year corroborated this line of thought in finding that 44% of Asia-Pacific travellers use social media platforms to research travel destinations. This is more than double the amount of travellers from US and EMEA demonstrating similar online behaviour. |
