USE of social media platforms in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) is as diverse as the peoples that populate the region, found the second Social Media Monitor study by Accor Asia Pacific.
Social media has penetrated the holidays of APAC travellers at an average rate of 70 per cent, with China (84 per cent), Vietnam (83 per cent) and Indonesia (82 per cent) being the most active users.
On the other end of the spectrum are travellers from Australia, New Zealand and Japan, with roughly 40 per cent of tourists from these markets using social media on trips.
Across APAC, travellers spend an estimated 2.8 hours per day on social media platforms while tourists from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand interact on social media for about four hours a day.
While results show that social media has penetrated the holidays of APAC travellers, different markets displayed a preference for different types of social media.
Facebook remains the most widely used platform, followed by WhatsApp. Close to half of respondents use Facebook multiple times a day and the Philippines is Facebook’s most ardent supporter in the region.
WhatsApp has overtaken Facebook in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and India, but its position is under threat from other messaging platforms developed in Asia.
WeChat has seen a 13 per cent surge in popularity since last year’s survey, dethroning Sina Weibo as the most used social platform in China where three out of four travellers said they use WeChat multiple times a day.
Line grew by 11 per cent over last year, having found favour in Thailand (71 per cent). It is among the top three most popular networks in Indonesia (33 per cent) and Japan (26 per cent).
Youtube is used by 23 per cent of APAC travellers and Instagram by 11 per cent.
The role of social media through the travel cycle also varies according to market. Travellers from Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam use Facebook throughout.
But users from Singapore, Malaysia and India use it for pre-trip search and sharing of experiences post-trip, but turn to WhatsApp during the trip to keep in touch. This mirrors the experience of South Koreans, who use Kakaotalk instead of WhatsApp.
Hong Kong citizens research and plan trips on Facebook and use WhatsApp to share during and after the trip. In China, Sina Weibo is used for research, while WeChat is deployed for sharing purposes.
Accor Asia Pacific’s Social Media Monitor is the product of collaboration with ORC International, surveying over 6,500 travellers from 13 countries in the region.
