TripAdvisor today announced the results of its latest 'TripAdvisor 2012 Industry Index', conducted from June 7-14, 2012. Sent via email to a random sample of global accommodation owners and managers, the study has revealed findings about the current hospitality trends for India and around the world. The Asia Pacific (APAC) region accounted for slightly over a fifth of the entire sample and India formed the largest segment of this region with just over 1,500 respondents.
According to the research, 50 per cent of APAC respondents reported optimism about the economy for the remainder of the year believing the economy would improve. The report further showed that hoteliers in APAC, North America and Latin America were twice as likely to report being profitable in the last six months than hoteliers in the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. TripAdvisor’s hotel survey has also uncovered a number of other industry insights, including accommodations’ business outlook, how they are engaging with travellers on social and mobile platforms and their plans to offer eco-friendly programmes. Summarising survey highlights for India, Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor India, said, "Most survey results for India cue a positive industry sentiment. In fact we designed an industry scale based on survey response on economic and business outlook of properties, which indicate better than average business health for India, which ranks second in APAC region and fifth in the world." "Another highlight of the survey has revealed that though Indian hoteliers recognise the importance of social and mobile marketing, they are slow at adopting their use to connect with current and potential customers, compared to global numbers," he further said. Indonesia and India have the highest proportion of respondents in the APAC reporting their business as extremely profitable (six per cent for both areas) or very profitable (38 per cent for Indonesia and 29 per cent for India) in the last six months. The positive business outlook also seems to be evident from the staffing plans in second half of 2012, as India ranks highest globally among all countries surveyed, for staff turnover based on increased staff levels, as per the report. While most respondents in APAC reported that there would be no change in their staffing levels in the next six months, respondents in India were more likely to increase their staff (39 per cent), followed by Thailand (31 per cent) and Indonesia (30 per cent). The study further said that India ranks fifth in the world for hotels with the best business outlook, while Greece ranks last. Majority of hotel respondents in the APAC confirmed having a website for their property with online booking facility. India had the lowest proportion of hotel respondents with online booking. This is further corroborated by the survey finding that only 11 per cent respondents cited online booking through hotel website as the top source of reservation for them. A majority of 66 per cent respondents claim 'direct enquiry with hotel' to be among the top three sources of reservations for them. Hotels in APAC have also indicated eco-friendly practices as being more important for them than Inns and Bed & Breakfast establishments. Eco-friendly practices are most likely to be reported as very important in India and least likely in Australia. India ranks 11th globally and fourth in APAC that have eco-practices in place.
Click here to see the original article>According to the research, 50 per cent of APAC respondents reported optimism about the economy for the remainder of the year believing the economy would improve. The report further showed that hoteliers in APAC, North America and Latin America were twice as likely to report being profitable in the last six months than hoteliers in the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. TripAdvisor’s hotel survey has also uncovered a number of other industry insights, including accommodations’ business outlook, how they are engaging with travellers on social and mobile platforms and their plans to offer eco-friendly programmes. Summarising survey highlights for India, Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor India, said, "Most survey results for India cue a positive industry sentiment. In fact we designed an industry scale based on survey response on economic and business outlook of properties, which indicate better than average business health for India, which ranks second in APAC region and fifth in the world." "Another highlight of the survey has revealed that though Indian hoteliers recognise the importance of social and mobile marketing, they are slow at adopting their use to connect with current and potential customers, compared to global numbers," he further said. Indonesia and India have the highest proportion of respondents in the APAC reporting their business as extremely profitable (six per cent for both areas) or very profitable (38 per cent for Indonesia and 29 per cent for India) in the last six months. The positive business outlook also seems to be evident from the staffing plans in second half of 2012, as India ranks highest globally among all countries surveyed, for staff turnover based on increased staff levels, as per the report. While most respondents in APAC reported that there would be no change in their staffing levels in the next six months, respondents in India were more likely to increase their staff (39 per cent), followed by Thailand (31 per cent) and Indonesia (30 per cent). The study further said that India ranks fifth in the world for hotels with the best business outlook, while Greece ranks last. Majority of hotel respondents in the APAC confirmed having a website for their property with online booking facility. India had the lowest proportion of hotel respondents with online booking. This is further corroborated by the survey finding that only 11 per cent respondents cited online booking through hotel website as the top source of reservation for them. A majority of 66 per cent respondents claim 'direct enquiry with hotel' to be among the top three sources of reservations for them. Hotels in APAC have also indicated eco-friendly practices as being more important for them than Inns and Bed & Breakfast establishments. Eco-friendly practices are most likely to be reported as very important in India and least likely in Australia. India ranks 11th globally and fourth in APAC that have eco-practices in place.