HotelsCombined is a Sydney-based online service, with almost 10 thousand hotel partners in Indonesia, that try to expand its service by helping locals comparing hotel prices. Already in Indonesia for quite some time, including the availability of localized version for desktop and mobile, we recently communicated with Nana Adistya, HotelsCombined’s Market Manager for Indonesia, about the company’s recent updates and its plans in Indonesia.
While she refused to unveil the exact number, Adistya stated the number of traffic from mobile devices to HotelsCombined has increased significantly. In Indonesia, the percentage of bookings made through mobile and tablet has increased by 17% and 13% respectively over the past 18 months. Knowing that Indonesia is a mobile-first country, this statistic makes no surprise at all.
Adistya revealed that, based on HotelsCombined booking data from January 2014 to October 2014, the top destinations for Indonesian travellers are domestic destinations including Kuta, Jakarta, Bandung, Seminyak and Lombok. For international trip, the top five international destinations for Indonesian travellers are Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and Australia. For years, these countries have been in the list of most Indonesians, due to geographical and cultural situation.
Indonesian travellers are said to appreciate value. That’s why, apparently four star hotels are the most popular choice for Indonesians, followed by three star hotels and five stars hotels.
In term of strategy to penetrate Indonesian market, Adistya said, “Indonesia is a very interesting country with a diverse group of people from Sabang to Merauke. Because of this, it was important for us to localise hotelscombined.co.id and all aspects of the metasearch experience. Additionally, the mobile app has been translated and localised in order to offer our Indonesian users a world-class experience.”
Moreover, she added, “Indonesians are very smart and price sensitive travellers; scouring different sources and compare prices in order to achieve the best deals possible. HotelsCombined, as the world’s leading hotels price comparison site, simplifies the process by allowing users to easily compare the hotels by destinations, prices, recommendations, and distance from key tourist attractions. We’ve run a number of social and marketing campaigns since launching. Given the social media penetration in Indonesia, our social media campaigns have been particularly successful and have driven strong brand recognition within the country.”
Travel trend in 2015
About travel trend in 2015 for Indonesians, Adistya predicted, “Based on previous data, we expect Singapore, Bali and Thailand will continue to be the most popular destinations for Indonesian travellers. This can be attributed to the close proximity of these destinations, as well as their attraction for shopping and business.”
The recent policy about visa waiver to Japan for Indonesian e-passport holders by 1 December 2014 will play big role to increase the number of outbound travellers. For Indonesian tourism industry, Adistya mentioned, “If the visa-on-arrival now required for visitors from Australia, Japan, China, South Korea and Russia is waived, we’ll potentially see a boost in inbound tourism from those important markets. We believe there are still a lot of opportunities within the Indonesia’s tourism industry and there will be a strong increase in 2015 based on the new government’s policies and social economic growth.”
She acknowledges that the newly elected President Joko Widodo has prioritised tourism in Indonesia by reverting the current tourism ministry back to its former, with the creative economy portfolio delegated to a team directly under his supervision. Optimistically, she stated, “As a result it will be easier for tourists looking to head overseas or to visit the country.”
Competition in Indonesia
Well aware that HotelsCombined is not the only player in industry, Adistya assured, “We will continue to focus on providing the best service and solutions for both consumers and our partners. Thanks to the breadth and quality of the travel and hotel sites we search, users will always find the best rate through our site. As our way of standing behind this statement we offer a best price guarantee.”
HotelsCombined has partnered with a variety of Indonesian websites, from top online site Bhinneka, travel site Utiket and Uyora to the rewards program site, Excite.
Adistya agreed that metasearch is still a new concept in many South East Asian markets, including Indonesia. That’s why HotelsCombined sees this as a great opportunity. She said, “At HotelsCombined, we continue to educate travellers on the benefit of metasearch through our local and global campaigns so they are aware that they can find the accommodation at the best price available. While HotelsCombined is relatively new in Indonesia, we are doing our best to grow our brand recognition within the Indonesian market by constantly making improvements and optimising our website and our various campaigns.”
