New Delhi :  TripAdvisor®, the world’s largest travel site, today announced the results of the world’s largest accommodation and traveller survey¹ – the TripBarometer by TripAdvisor. This study, conducted on behalf of TripAdvisor by independent research firm StrategyOne (a division of Edelman Berland), will be biannual and reports on top travel and hospitality industry trends, according to more than 35,000 travellers and accommodations around the world.

The results of the TripBarometer highlight country level, regional and global trends within the travel sector and reveal insights into economic outlook, travel planning, booking methods and traveller expectations. The report shows that Indian accommodations are the most optimistic about their business prospects in 2013, while 77 percent of domestic travellers plan to increase their travel spend this year.

Indian hoteliers are able to look back at last year with satisfaction: 81 percent of the over 750 hoteliers surveyed for the TripBarometer reported that 2012 was economically successful for them. In fact, 28 percent of Indian accommodation owners went so far as to describe 2012 as “very profitable”. Looking at these findings, India is in peak position compared to other key markets around the world.

Indian accommodation owners are the most bullish in the world with 89 percent of them stating that they are optimistic about their probability this year, which is above the global average of 68 percent.This positive mood is also reflected in terms of plans to increase staff levels: 41 percent of Indian accommodations plan to create new jobs, which places them first in the ranking of other key global markets for job creation in 2013.

Asian Accommodations amongst Most Optimistic in World About Profitability in 2013

(ranked in order of optimism)

Accommodation owners from Asian countries polled in the TripBarometer are amongst the most optimistic in the world.

Region	Percentage of respondents optimistic about business profitability in 2013
North America	82%
South America	77%
Asia	72%
Africa	71%
Middle East	71%
Australasia	65%
Europe	54%
GLOBAL	68%

Looking at hiring trends within the global accommodation industry, 19 percent of respondents are planning to add new jobs in 2013. According to the TripBarometer, Asian accommodations are nearly three times (32%) as likely to add news jobs in 2013 as European accommodations (12%).

Asian accommodations are amongst the most likely to increase their room rates in 2013, with 42 percent of accommodation providers planning to increase rates this year. In India, 47 percent of accommodations are planning to increase room rates in the coming months.

Region	Percentage of respondents who plan to increase room rates
South America	48%
North America	43%
Asia	42%
Africa	41%
Middle East	39%
Australasia	36%
Europe	32%
GLOBAL	40%

Global Travellers’ Plans to Increase Travel Spend Present Opportunity for Accommodations

Travellers from Africa are showing the biggest increase in their planned travel spend for 2013, with 76 percent of respondents saying they estimate that their travel budget will increase this year. Travellers from the Middle East (75%) and South America (58%) also plan to spend notably more on travel in 2013. Globally, 50 percent of travellers expect their travel spend to go up this year.

Region	Percentage of respondents who expect their travel budget to increase in 2013
Africa	76%
Middle East	75%
South America	58%
Asia	49%
Australasia	44%
North America	44%
Europe	44%
GLOBAL	50%

Online Channels Acting as Megaphone for Traditional ‘Word of Mouth’

The TripBarometer reveals that 69 percent of travellers globally use travel review websites when researching and planning their trips. Over half (62%) of respondents in Asia and seven in ten (70%) respondents in India look to travel review websites.

The three sources of information reported as being most useful by global and Asian travellers are all online sources.

Information Source	Percent of respondents finding source most “useful” (Global)
Travel review websites	38%
Web based travel agencies	19%
Travel operator websites	16%
Friends and family	10%
Travel magazines & brochures	6%
Social media	4%
High street travel agencies	4%
Other	3%

With travellers going online for their travel research and planning, they are also showing preference for online as the primary booking channel. Globally, the majority of travellers are booking accommodation via web-based travel agencies (27%), closely followed by accommodations’ own websites (23%).

Business owners report their own website as the channel that generates the most amount of bookings (35%) for them, followed by online travel agencies (18%). The data paints a slightly less positive story for store front travel agencies, with 9 percent of travellers booking their last accommodation through an offline travel agent.

Looking strictly at the results for Asian accommodations, 28 percent report their own website as the channel that generates the majority of their bookings, followed by online travel agencies (24%) and their own mobile app (13%).

The results of the TripBarometer reveal that travel review websites have the biggest influence on travellers’ decisions when choosing a hotel: 93 percent of travellers indicated that other people’s reviews and opinions on travel review websites have influenced their decision to book accommodations for their last trip. Not surprisingly, a majority (96 percent) of accommodations globally perceived online reviews are of crucial importance for generating booking.

“The TripBarometer has revealed useful insights into what global travellers are planning and shone a light on the areas where accommodation providers can do more to meet guests’ expectations,” said Christine Petersen, President, TripAdvisor for Business. “With travellers choosing digital channels for their travel planning and research, traditional word of mouth has been amplified and online booking has become the norm across the globe. Furthermore, as business optimism and travel budgets increase across Asia, it seems likely that hospitality businesses in the region will benefit from this positive sentiment.

Indian Properties in Control of Their Online Reputation

The TripBarometer shows that a majority (91 percent) of hospitality businesses in India indicate that they are taking active control of their online reputation by monitoring traveller reviews online.

Indian accommodations consider both guest rants and raves equally valuable feedback. According to the TripBarometer, accommodations in India are proactive in responding to both positive and negative online reviews with 89 percent of survey respondents claiming that they respond to positive reviews and nearly all (99 percent) of respondents indicating that they respond to negative reviews, either online or in private.

Good staff performance does not go unnoticed with over half (64 percent) of Indian properties indicating that they have congratulated or rewarded staff as a result of positive online reviews. Guest feedback is taken seriously by Indian accommodations with 71 percent indicating that they have addressed the content of a negative review with the staff involved and a further 63 percent having invested in staff training on account of receiving a negative online review.

“With travel review websites as the biggest influence on travellers’ decisions when choosing accommodation, it’s encouraging to see accommodations in Asia taking immediate action to manage their online reputation by engaging with past guests and the wider traveller community through management responses to online reviews,” said Deepesh Saxena, TripAdvisor for Business’ Territory Manager in India. “One of the best ways to generate more traveller reviews is to simply ask hotel guests to share their travel experiences online.”

Sustainable Travel Gaining Importance in India

Sustainability is a key concern for travellers when making travel plans with 79 percent of travellers surveyed globally and 91 percent of Indian travellers indicating that it’s important for accommodation providers to have eco-friendly practices. In keeping with consumer demand for responsible travel, 70 percent of Indian accommodations currently have practices in place to reduce the impact their business has on the environment. According to the survey, Indian properties indicate that they are doing their bit for the planet by implementing a wide range of eco-friendly practices. The most common initiatives are energy-efficient blubs (89 percent) followed by towel and linen re-use programme (83 percent).