Attracting International Tourists

Earlier this week, I got to experience firsthand how Mastercard is helping to shape the future of travel and urban mobility.   In Hong Kong, Mastercard has collaborated with MTR Corporation Limited 香港鐵路有限公司 to allow cardholders to use their contactless credit and debit cards at MTR entry/exit gates, making travel smoother and hassle-free. You simply tap your Mastercard or mobile device and go!   International visitors can also make contactless "Tap & Go" payments across Beijing's transit system using overseas-issued cards. Mastercard, supported by the People's Bank of China, the Beijing municipal government, and the city’s urban rail transit system was the first international payment brand to be integrated into China’s urban rail system. And soon, local cardholders will be able to use their new ‘China Mastercard’ cards to pay their fares too.   Both examples are a game-changer for tourists like me who prefer cashless, simple travel. It was fantastic to see Hong Kong and Beijing joining cities like London, New York, Amsterdam, Milan, Sydney, and Singapore in embracing these innovations.   But it's not just transit where Mastercard is leading the way. Mastercard is at the forefront of enhancing the experience for international visitors by integrating global cards with local digital platforms like Alipay and WeChat, simplifying the payment experience and boosting convenience. This enables personalized experiences, supports economic growth and helps make China more accessible to tourists.   Seamless payments, personalized services, and economic impact - Mastercard is shaping the future of travel and connecting the globe!   #ContactlessPayment #Innovation #Travel #Technology #Tourism Dennis Chang Helena Chen

As someone who advises brands on how to design growth, I really like the thinking behind MakeMyTrip’s Travel ka Muhurat Sale. What stood out to me is how clearly the strategy shows through. Instead of a one-week flash sale that people forget about in two days, they have created a full month of reasons to keep coming back. Different destinations every week. Short, focused booking windows in the evenings when people are actually browsing. It turns travel planning into a series of nudges rather than one big push. There is also a clever cultural insight at play. Muhurat is about the right moment to start something important. Connecting that idea to travel makes it feel like a decision worth prioritizing, not a guilty pleasure. That shift in mindset is where real category growth happens. The financial mechanics are also smart. Co-funded bank discounts help them acquire customers efficiently. Distributed demand smooths operations and prevents frantic last-minute discounting. And with holidays around the corner, earlier bookings support better planning and cash flow for both the platform and its partners. It's a strong signal that this campaign isn’t just creative marketing, but a business growth lever that works. #TravelKaMuhuratSale #MakeMyTrip

Payments are being reimagined across industries — and tourism is now the latest proving ground. Countries that depend on visitors are experimenting with something bold: crypto payments as a lever to attract, engage, and differentiate. Take Thailand. Its TouristDigiPay pilot lets foreigners convert crypto into baht, capped and regulated to ease both spending and compliance. Bhutan has gone further, launching a national crypto-powered tourism system in partnership with Binance Pay. In the Gulf, Emirates is preparing to accept digital assets for tickets — a signal that travel and crypto are converging. And El Salvador continues to double down on Bitcoin as legal tender, betting on “crypto tourists” to fuel growth. The ambition is clear: make spending seamless, capture new segments, and signal digital-friendliness. But the challenges are just as real. Regulation, merchant adoption, and volatility are still friction points. Most merchants don’t want to be paid in tokens — they want fiat in the till. And tourists themselves will only adopt if the experience is simpler than a card swipe. What strikes me is the pattern. Governments aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel with full decentralization. Instead, they’re running sandboxed pilots: crypto in at the top, regulated rails underneath, fiat out at the merchant. The experiment is less about ideology and more about economic edge. Graphic: FXC Intelligence #payments #crypto #innovation

Are you thinking locally when your market is global? A hotel's reach extends far beyond its four walls, because guests arrive from everywhere, with expectations shaped by experiences they've had everywhere. However, many properties market themselves as if their audience is only within a 50-mile radius. We have seen first-hand how this becomes problematic when the local market changes and the hotel is suddenly scrabbling around to fill their spaces. Static, narrowly focussed digital experiences do not cater to global customers. Hotels that think globally — who present themselves through immersive, adaptive virtual experiences — capture guests from markets they didn't even know were searching. Interactive tours that work across devices, that engage international audiences, that convey sophistication and intention... these properties stop competing locally and start winning globally. The question isn't whether your hotel matters beyond your region, it's whether your digital presence reflects that ambition. Are you marketing to the guest in front of you, or to all the guests you haven't met yet? #hotels #sales #marketing #virtualtours

𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝑲𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑯𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒔 🏨🌏 Korean travellers are known for placing a high level of trust in online reviews and recommendations when deciding on where to stay. Before booking, they spend significant time researching hotels, reading reviews, and gathering information from multiple sources. If you're looking to expand your hotel group's presence and attract the Korean market, here's a strategy that could make all the difference: 1️⃣ Korean Language Website Korean consumers prefer content in their native language. Having a Korean-language website isn't just about translation; it’s about cultural adaptation and SEO optimisation to ensure your content resonates and ranks highly on Korean search engines like Naver. This builds trust, enhances visibility, and drives higher booking conversion rates. 2️⃣ Focus on Key Platforms To truly connect with Korean travellers, consider these key platforms: Naver Ads: Naver is Korea’s leading search engine and a goldmine for hotel marketing. Here’s how to leverage it: - Search Ads: Target Korean travellers actively searching for hotels in your property locations. - Naver Blog Ads: Build credibility by promoting detailed, authentic reviews on Naver Blogs, which are highly trusted by Korean consumers. - Display & Shopping Ads: Increase visibility through banner ads across Naver’s vast network (including Naver News, Shopping, etc.), and offer exclusive hotel packages to attract attention. - Video Ads: Showcase your hotel through engaging videos on Naver TV to capture the attention of potential guests. - Knowledge iN Ads: Answer travel-related questions on Naver, establishing your hotel as a trusted expert. Agoda & Booking.com: These platforms are essential for driving bookings in Korea. Actively manage and optimise customer reviews, and maintain a strong representation to boost visibility and reputation. 3️⃣ Naver Blog vs. Instagram While Instagram is popular, Naver Blog is far more effective for hotel marketing in Korea. It allows you to provide detailed descriptions, user reviews, and in-depth insights about your property—perfect for the kind of information Korean travellers are looking for when booking. By combining a localised website, leveraging Naver Ads, and engaging with the right platforms, you can significantly enhance your hotel's visibility and attract more Korean travellers to your hotel properties. I've been asked to create a marketing strategy for the above. Ideas are from my team and photo is my own :) 90 Degrees Asia

The travel industry is leaving serious money and impact on the table. Hotels, airlines, and tourism boards still lean heavily on traditional editorial coverage when it comes to media or FAM trips. Journalism will always matter (I’m a freelance journalist myself), but the data is undeniable: most travelers are booking trips because of what they see on social media. I have worked in this space from every angle: ✈️ as a journalist telling destination stories 📸 as a content creator with a loyal, engaged audience 🌏 and as the founder of a travel community that physically brings travelers to destinations, directly impacting tourism dollars From where I stand, one thing is clear. Creators and community founders are not just a “nice-to-have” in your marketing mix. They are one of the most powerful, conversion-driving tools a destination can have. Yet somehow, we are still being asked to work for free. The same brands who will spend tens of thousands on a glossy print ad will hesitate to invest in the people actually driving bookings. Here is why that mindset needs to change: Recently, I worked with a tourism board as an influencer on a media trip and at the same time, I hosted a private trip there. While on the FAM, I brought 5 paying travelers booked in 24 hours, two weeks before departure. Those travelers posted content too, even though they are not influencers. The tourism board was shocked at both the speed of sales and the ripple effect of organic content created by everyday people. Next month, I am hosting a trip to Bali. Seventy Americans are flying across the world for this experience. That is over $300,000 in tourism dollars generated from one trip. That is 70 travelers capturing moments, telling their own stories, and inspiring their own networks. That is 70 sources of user-generated content, plus my own, plus the long-tail impact when their friends and followers start planning their own Bali trips. This is not hypothetical ROI….It’s real and measurable right now. Travel brands, this is your sign. Stop asking creators to work for free. Start seeing the value of influencer and community-led travel, and pay accordingly. The future is not just about one campaign or article posted once. It is about the social ripple effect that drives bookings, loyalty, and lasting brand love. If you want travelers to choose you, you need to meet them where they are already planning and booking. Right now, that is on social media and in communities they trust. #travel #tourism #hospitality #communitybuilding #creatoreconomy #hotels #airlines #tourismboards #journalism

71% of 18-24 year olds used social media to plan their last international trip. For the 55+ demographic? Just 21%. This isn't a trend. It's a generational fault line in how travel decisions are made. According to the new Tourism Economics and Meta report on travel and tourism, social media has become the third most important planning tool for international travellers — behind only OTAs and review sites. But the real story is in the age breakdown: → 71% of 18-24s used social media to plan their last trip → 68% of 25-34s did the same → By 55+, it drops to just 21% And here's the part that should concern every destination marketer: 83% of those who used social media said it was important in influencing their final travel decision. That held true across every age group. The implication is clear. Your future traveller is already making decisions somewhere you might not be showing up. For destinations still leading with traditional media buys and hoping digital will "support" the campaign, this data suggests the hierarchy has flipped. Social isn't the amplifier. It's becoming the primary channel for discovery, inspiration, and decision-making. The question for CMOs isn't whether to invest in social. It's whether your current strategy reflects where your next generation of high-value travellers is actually paying attention. Because if you're not in the feed, you're not in the consideration set 🚀

🌴 Instagram and TikTok together account for 60% of reported social media usage by international visitors to Bali That matters because Bali is no longer being discovered primarily through traditional destination marketing. It is being discovered visually, socially and algorithmically. For Bali’s visitor economy, this changes the strategic playing field. Social media is no longer just a promotional channel. It is where destination perception is formed, where expectations are created, and where the visitor journey often begins long before the booking is made. For hotels, this has direct commercial implications. A guest may first see Bali through a reel, a creator post, a hotel visual, a wellness experience, a restaurant moment or a short-form video of a beach club, villa, temple, waterfall or sunset. But that attention does not automatically convert into direct booking. This is where the commercial challenge begins. If hotels are visible on social media but weak in conversion, the value can leak into OTAs, aggregators and competing properties. In that case, the hotel may help create the desire, but someone else captures the transaction. The implication is that hotel content strategy must move beyond attractive imagery. The winning hotels will be those that build a clear narrative around: ◾ why the guest should stay here, not just visit Bali; ◾ what experience the property owns; ◾ how the stay fits into the guest’s identity, lifestyle or purpose; ◾ why booking direct creates additional value; ◾ and how the digital promise is delivered on property. For Bali, this is especially important because its core visitor appeal remains place-based: nature, culture, hospitality and lifestyle. Hotels that can translate these destination assets into credible, ownable guest experiences will be better positioned to defend rate, improve conversion and reduce dependency on intermediated demand. The next phase of hotel competitiveness in Bali will not be won by properties that simply post more content. It will be won by those that understand the full pathway from attention → aspiration → trust → booking → experience → advocacy. In Bali’s visitor economy, social media is now part of the demand infrastructure. Hotels need to treat it accordingly. 📎 (Source: Bali Provincial Tourism Office/Udayana University & PT Hotel Investment Advisory) #Bali #Hospitality #HotelInvestment #HotelMarketing #TourismStrategy #VisitorEconomy #DestinationMarketing #RevenueManagement #DirectBooking #IndonesiaTourism #SocialMediaMarketing

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝗜-𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝘆𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 Together with my colleague Joanne Yu from the City University of Macau, I am pleased to announce our latest study for publication in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology. In our research, we investigated how real-time generated, hyper-personalized tourism images influence the perceptions and intentions of potential travelers. Using an AI system, we presented 237 participants with individualized images depicting their own appearance in different travel scenarios. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: The study shows that narrative transportation - the mental immersion in depicted scenarios - acts as a mediator between personalized visual content and tourist behavioral intentions. The more similar people recognized themselves in the AI-generated images, the stronger their emotional and cognitive engagement as well as their intention to visit the depicted destinations. Interestingly, our analysis also revealed that increased trust in generative AI led to a decrease in emotional reactions and visit intentions - a paradox that may indicate a passive consumer attitude with overconfidence in technology. Surprisingly, privacy concerns did not play a significant role in our context, which could indicate an increasing acceptance of personalized AI applications. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲: These findings open up new opportunities for destination marketing organizations and tourism platforms. Hyper-personalized, real-time generated content could revolutionize the way potential travelers explore destinations and make decisions. Special thanks to the Macao Foundation for funding this research (Grant MF2310). The full study is available at: DOI 10.1108/JHTT-06-2025-0464 #TourismResearch #ArtificialIntelligence #GenerativeAI #DigitalMarketing #TourismTechnology #Hyperpersonalization

One of the smartest travel campaigns I’ve seen recently didn’t come through sponsorship rights. It came through fan frustration. Air Transat has leaned into rising FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States ticket prices by comparing the cost of attending a match with the cost of flying to the actual home nation fans support. A simple but sharp strategic pivot - for the price of one game ticket, you could instead experience the culture behind the team. That reframing matters, because the most effective travel marketing increasingly understands something many brands still miss - People don’t just travel for destinations anymore, they travel for identity, belonging and emotional proximity to the things they love. Sport is becoming one of the strongest accelerants of that behaviour. We’re already seeing it: > fans planning travel around tournaments rather than holidays, > sporting communities shaping destination preference, > airlines, tourism boards and hospitality brands moving from transactional messaging to cultural participation. What makes this campaign work isn’t just the data-driven execution. It’s the insight underneath it. The experience of football doesn’t only live inside a stadium. It lives in neighbourhoods, rituals, chants, language and collective emotion. That’s a far richer territory for travel brands to play in. With the FIFA World Cup kicking off in North America this month, I suspect we’ll see far more brands trying to tap into fan culture over the next 12 months. But I suspect few will do it this cleanly. #SportsMarketing #TravelMarketing #BrandStrategy #CustomerInsight #FIFAWorldCup