Building Western Tourism: An Asia perspective

The topic of Asian tourism growth in the West has been discussed extensively. However, as Asia’s tourism industry develops we see a reverse trend emerging; today we explore the nature of brand communication between Asia’s tourism boards and Western travellers. 

All eyes on Asia – using the right environment

In the coming years, the world’s attention will turn to Asia as the continent hosts a string of global events including the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and the Winter Olympics in South Korea and China in 2018 and 2022 respectively. In addition to the globally recognised events, with the growing interest in genuine and local experiences, many local festivals like the Diwali in India or the Sky Lantern Festival in Taiwan attract an increasingly global audience. The success of these events hinges on ramping up excitement around the world and attracting an international audience.

Unsurprisingly, the airport environment is the perfect place to speak to an audience who are engaged and enthusiastic about exploring different cultures. However, picking the right location is still key.

Major airport hubs such as Dubai, Paris Charles de Gaulle, London Heathrow and Los Angeles International act as the gateway for many Western travellers to Asia-Pacific regions. These airports are increasingly becoming key strategic hubs for Asian advertisers to speak directly to their target consumers in the right place, at the right time.

Top 10 Airports for Western* Passengers travelling to Asia Pacific

Asian tourism brands are increasingly recognising the airport’s unique advantage of hosting a captive and receptive audience with a positive mindset. Moreover, for tourism brands especially, it is all about offering unique experiences and a taste of the destination. The environment excels at delivering engaging interactions with global consumers through experiential spaces, building the excitement and anticipation surrounding travel.

Driving the right message

Beyond choosing the right environment, international campaigns should speak to different audiences respecting the nuances of different cultures. Localisation of the message is vital. As with any brand relationship, it is imperative that consumers feel an important part of the conversation, demonstrated not least by using the appropriate language, tone of voice and imagery. Instead of distributing the same creative across all markets, the best campaigns tailor their messaging to the mentality of the local audience.

Understanding advertising effectiveness

Finally, the key challenge facing agencies and advertisers alike is ascertaining a reliable understanding of campaign performance and how each media channel compares. The airport environment offers established audience measurement platforms and campaign effectiveness research enabling brands to get an in-depth view of the impact of advertising. Ultimately, this data can be built into econometric models, enabling brands to optimise the performance of their media mix and successfully gauge the power of airport OOH in impacting tourist volumes from each campaign placement.Notes: