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An ITB Asia survey has revealed that 98% of travel industry respondents said they would increase or maintain travel industry marketing spend in 2011. Some 56% said they would increase; 42% said they would maintain budget levels.
The findings were based on a survey of 212 travel industry professionals, most of whom attended the third ITB Asia B2B travel show in Singapore, 20-22 October.
The survey indicated that within the travel industry in Asia, social media is now deemed a crucial tool to attract new business and keep existing business. While nearly all travel company representatives who responded said that they planned to maintain or increase their social media marketing spend, the majority of companies expected to allocate less than 5% of total marketing budget to social media.
Just over 67% of the respondents reported that they used social media as a business communications tool. Some 63% of respondents said that social media was “most beneficial” for generating exposure for their business.
Social media is coming of age. “At last year’s Web In Travel, most people dismissed social media as hype but this year, there was real and serious discussion about its use in all forms of communication and marketing,” said Yeoh Siew Hoon, organizer of Web in Travel, the travel technology show which is part of ITB Asia.
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