We Want to Travel Again: Musings and Digital Trends on Travelling

By James Michael Chiong, Senior Manager for Digital Strategy

Today, attention is scarce. As we become more and more connected to our consumers online, we also start to compete against each other on how much bandwidth we take up in the minds of our consumers. The rise of digital has indeed has made the field of marketing more cutthroat and its metrics more exacting.

Speaking of the rise of digital has made brands warier of the short term results vs. the long term benefits of marketing. Short term results would include sales and customer acquisition, while long term benefits would entail brand building and equity. As marketers, we have to be vigilant in keeping these in check, because the long-term brand building reinforces the exponential achievement of sales and other short-term goals.

The new normal is such a buzzword that everyone sort of picked up on. And it’s such a relevant term to describe how the landscape for digital has changed. And it’s always so relevant to look at what changed in how we do our brand marketing because it helps us pivot better and move forward. We also recorded a podcast episode on this topic, about finding your brand’s digital journey, in TeamAsia’s B2B: Breakfast to Business. You can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Youtube, or via www.teamasia.com/breakfast-to-business.

Yes, the new normal is predicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. But, this crisis also shows that the values that consumers are aligning themselves to are changing as well. Here are some trends that shaped how we do digital marketing in the new normal.

One, according to globalwebindex, people now look onto social media to fill the need for meaningful relationships. So, we have seen an increase of social media activity during the quarantine period. For brands who want to take advantage of this, there is no better time to ramp up your social media marketing than now. 

Two,  interest towards travelling, and corollary topics such as flights, hotels, tours have significantly dropped. A quick search via Google Trends shows us that on March 15, 2020, these topics dropped in search interest. However, the quarantine period isn’t the time to disconnect with your market, because in the same Google Trends study, we find that on May 31, search interest points for flights and travelling increased by almost 100%. Top search topics during this period with increased search interest include travelling in the Philippines (including flights around the country), travel agencies, and hotels around  Metro Manila. So, while travel-related purchases are down during this time because of all the restrictions we have, I would like to emphasize the importance of retaining your SEO at this time. Continue creating content that your target consumers need. Stay relevant for when people search for your topics through SERP optimization and SEM. The quarantine period is not a time to stop communicating. 

Three: we’re excited to get out of this pandemic already because travel and vacations are one of the top priorities of online consumers after the lockdown. People are anxious to pursue their travel-lust and go out into the world already, but they prefer to do this without having to fly. They are reluctant because of social distancing measures we have to do. But, people are more inclined to travel and staycation locally. In the global study by globalwebindex, Filipinos prefer taking cheaper vacations once the quarantine is over. 
GRID Magazine promises that “We Will Travel Again.” Because they are a travel magazine, and that the industry has been grounded, GRID Magazine launched a short film to remind Filipinos why we travel. It reminds us of the different goals and aspirations that we have when we travel, and it aims to spark the travel bug within all of us. It reminds us that when we travel, we create an impact that’s bigger than ourselves. I suggest you go find that short film on Youtube and watch it today. This is such a strong campaign to reignite our feelings towards travelling, because I do believe that we will travel again.