Travel is returning at speed in Asia Pacific. With consumers forming the new “C-suite” in this era, they have placed an increased value on premium travel experiences and travel-related benefits. Brands now have an opportunity to leverage the return of travel to re-engage, build stronger relationships with their most valued customers, and in turn drive commercial returns.
To celebrate this, Collinson, owner and operator of Priority Pass, invited esteemed guests from both the financial services and travel sectors in Hong Kong to an exclusive networking event at two-star Michelin French restaurant, Écriture.
Besides featuring a bespoke menu and live art, Collinson’s Managing Director for North Asia, Ian Lee hosted a fireside chat with Collinson’s Vice President for Business Solutions in APAC, Rohan Bhalla, to discuss key findings from our latest research report – The New Rules of Engagement: Customer Expectations Revealed. Actionable insights on how brands can leverage the return of travel to re-engage and build stronger relationships with their most valued customers, and in turn drive commercial returns, were also shared during the session.
Key highlights from the research report include:
- We are in a “Customer Experience Era”. Consumers now form the new “C-suite” of this era. 76% of consumers in Asia Pacific perceive the experiences that brands and companies provide to be as important as its products and/or services.
- Travel-related rewards and benefits have a positive influence towards customer engagement and loyalty behaviours. For example, in Asia Pacific, consumers that took 10+ trips in the last year were members of twice as many programs as those that took 1 or less trips per year. Similarly, 60% of frequent travellers said their spending behaviour was influenced by their loyalty programme, as compared to only 20% for non-frequent travellers.
- Against this “Customer Experience Era”, travel-related rewards and benefits have emerged as a rising opportunity for financial services brands to provide the experiences consumers increasingly desire. For instance, 4 in 5 consumers in Hong Kong and China are more likely to use their payment cards for daily and travel expenses if the card offers travel-related rewards or benefits.
