Jim Eagles: Early birds catch the rooms

New Zealanders and Australians - unlike other travellers from the Asia-Pacific region - tend to book their air flights two or three months in advance but hotel rooms less than a week before travelling.

That's the picture identified by online booking site, Zuji, which was officially brought to New Zealand late last year by listed travel company Gullivers Pacific Travel Group.

But, if the website's experts are right, that pattern is going to change as it becomes harder to find last-minute rooms and more attractive to book further in advance.
In the first release of statistics since its New Zealand launch, Zuji said 59 per cent of Kiwis booked their air tickets more than 31 days beforehand, and 23 per cent did so more than 90 days in advance. That is a similar pattern to Australian behaviour but different from most others in the region.

For instance, 42 per cent of Hong Kong residents and 46 per cent of Singaporeans book within two weeks of travel, and only 3-4 per cent get their tickets 90 days out. But it is a different story when it comes to booking hotel rooms. Zuji figures show that 31 per cent of Kiwis and 33 per cent of Australians book their accommodation less than a week before travelling. Overall, in the first quarter of this year 55 per cent of hotel bookings made on Zuji sites were within two weeks of travelling. "Zuji Australia and Zuji New Zealand hotel booking trends are quite different to flight booking trends," the website says. "In both cases many travellers like to book flights in advance but wait weeks or days to decide on a hotel."

But, Zuji predicts, "this trend will change this year as consumers realise that waiting until the last minute is a somewhat outdated trend, especially for hotel rooms for high-occupancy cities and peak travel times".

The website is also expecting online agents and suppliers to encourage longer-lead bookings by offering better deals. As a result it expects "early bird bookings of 15-days plus as the most popular timing by the end of 2005".

The message there for those who do their own bookings on-line is that it is worth looking for incentives to book at least a couple of weeks before travelling.

The Zuji statistics also point to some other interesting trends. For instance, its bookings show that two-thirds of trips are for a week and an increasing number involve staying put. "This probably means travellers are spending less time actually travelling and more time in the same place."

Use of e-tickets continues to rise. During the last quarter of 2004, 37 per cent of flights booked on Zuji were e-tickets but in the first quarter of this year that increased to 43 per cent. "This is a continued trend towards e-ticket adoption in all Zuji market countries."

Travellers are continuing to shy away from Phuket following the Boxing Day tsunami but they are still flocking to Bangkok and the rest of Thailand. In the first three months of this year Bangkok was the most popular destination in the Asia-Pacific region for Zuji customers but Phuket fell from 15th to 44th. "Many travellers are opting instead for Bali."