Market specific highlights from the MasterIndex of Travel Survey Results - Australia, China and Hong Kong  - Page 1 of 4

Market specific highlights from the MasterIndex of Travel Survey Results for the second half of 2007. The below results are listed alphabetically.

We have cut the results from the MasterIndex of Travel Survey into numerous pages: Page 1 features: Australia, China and Hong Kong, Page 2 features: Indonesia, Japan and Korea, Page 3 features: Malaysia, New Zealand and The Philippines, Page 4 features: Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

AUSTRALIA - Forecast on Outbound Travel for the Second Half of 2007:

• 5.6% year-on-year growth
• 2.8 million outbound travelers forecasted for the next six months

Survey on Personal Travel

• Key sources of information used by travelers in planning their trips were word of mouth (31.2%), followed by familiarity with place (28%), and travel agents (27.2%).

• Top concerns for travelers when traveling to a foreign destination were security and safety issues (52%), followed by falling sick with no proper medical facilities (16%) and language barrier/communication problems (14.4%).

• The main activities travelers engaged in when traveling were general sightseeing and scenic spots (52.8%), shopping (32%) and entertainment (29.6%). 

• Most preferred shopping items for travelers when abroad included apparel and personal effects (55.2%), followed by local souvenirs/antiques/arts and crafts (34.4%) and luxury items/jewelleries/branded goods (19.2%).

• The favorite personal travel destination for Australian travelers was Europe (51.2%).

Survey on Business Travel

• 31.3% of business travelers said that over the last 12 months, there was the need to travel more as compared to the previous period.

• China (29.2%) was the most frequently visited destination, followed by New Zealand (16.7%) and USA (14.6%).

• Majority of business travelers (64.6%) make their own travel arrangement.

• Qantas (58.3%) was the most preferred airline for business travel, followed by Singapore Airlines (16.7%), and Thai Airways and Vietnam Air (4.2% each).

• International four star hotels (41.7%) were most preferred for business travel, together with international five-star or higher end hotels and three-star/ medium priced hotels (18.8% each), followed by international five-star spas and resorts (12.5% each).

CHINA - Forecast on Outbound Travel for the Second Half of 2007:

• 7.5% year-on-year growth
• 19 million outbound travelers forecasted for the next six months

Survey on Personal Travel

• Key sources of information used by travelers in planning their trips were travel agents (62.2%), followed by the internet (52.2%) and word of mouth (33.1%).

• Top concerns for travelers when traveling to a foreign destination were security and safety issues (51.8%), followed by losing one’s passport (47.4%) and language barriers/communication problems (33.9%). 

• The main activities travelers engaged in when traveling were general sightseeing and scenic spots (70.5%), shopping (55.4%) and entertainment (50.2%). 

• Most preferred shopping items for travelers when abroad included apparel and personal effects (61%), followed by local souvenirs/antiques/arts and crafts (57.4%) and luxury items/jewelleries/branded goods (23.1%) 

• The favorite personal travel destinations for the Chinese travelers was Hong Kong (26.7%).

Survey on Business Travel

• 25.7% of business travelers said that over the last 12 months, there was the need to travel more as compared to the previous period.

• Hong Kong (41.2%) was the most frequently visited destination, followed by Japan (21.6%) and China (16.2%).

• Majority of business travelers (41.9%) used their company’s in-house travel department when making business travel arrangements.

• Northwest Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways were the most preferred airline for business travel (0.7%) each.

• Three-star/medium priced hotels (44.6%) were most preferred for business travel, followed by international four star hotels (29.1%) and serviced apartments (8.1%).

HONG KONG - Forecast on Outbound Travel for the Second Half of 2007:

• 4.9% year-on-year growth
• 3.1 million outbound travelers forecasted for the next six months

Survey on Personal Travel

• Key sources of information used by travelers in planning their trips were travel agents (49.2%), followed by internet (35%) and word of mouth (32.9%).

• Top concerns for travelers when traveling to a foreign destination were security and safety issues (76%), followed by falling sick with no proper medical facilities (27.6%) and losing one’s passport (21.5%).

• The main activities travelers engaged in when traveling were general sightseeing and scenic spots (52%), shopping (36.6%) and entertainment (32.1%).

• Most preferred shopping items for travelers when abroad are local souvenirs/antiques/arts & crafts (56.1%), followed by food items (39%) and apparel and personal effects (31.3%).

• The favorite personal travel destination for Hong Kong travelers was Japan (43.9%).

Survey on Business Travel

• 38.2% of business travelers said that over the last 12 months, there was the need to travel more compared to the previous period.

• China (62.9%) was the most frequently visited destination, followed by Taiwan (15.7%), and Singapore and USA (14.6% each).

• Majority of business travelers (66.3%) used their company’s in-house travel department for making business travel arrangements.

• Singapore Airlines (5.6%) was the most preferred airline for business travel, followed by Thai Airways (4.5%).

• International five-star or higher end hotels (38.2%) were most preferred for business travel, followed by international four-star hotels (31.5%) and international five-star spa and resorts (14.6%).

We have cut the results from the MasterIndex of Travel Survey into numerous pages: Page 1 features: Australia, China and Hong Kong, Page 2 features: Indonesia, Japan and Korea, Page 3 features: Malaysia, New Zealand and The Philippines, Page 4 features: Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

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