Family and friend group travel back on the cards, Agoda survey shows

Digital travel platform Agoda’s Family Travel Trend Survey 2022 reveals that four out of five travelers will take a vacation with immediate family in the next 12 months and, while travelling with friends proves more popular than travelling with extended family, still more than half (52%) are keen to catch up with relatives for their vacation.

Travelers from Singapore (61%), Taiwan (61%), and Vietnam (59%) are most likely to take at least one trip with immediate family. Meanwhile, people from the Philippines (47%), Indonesia (40%), and Malaysia (35%) are most likely to plan two or more family jaunts in 2023. When it comes to vacationing with extended family, travelers from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam take the top three spots, with those from Japan, Korea, and Singapore least likely to take the whole family along for their travels.

“The more the merrier for holidays seems to be the message across Southeast Asia, India, and beyond this year as Asia finally reopens for travel. The Agoda Family Travel Survey shows people really want to enjoy the company of friends or extended family on their vacations with more than 80% of travelers planning to travel with immediate family and 52% opting to travel with other relatives too,” explained Enric Casals, Regional Vice President, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and India, Agoda. 

Friends reuniting

Australians are renowned for their love of their mates, but it seems it doesn’t translate to going on holiday with them, with travelers from Australia ranking only 9^th most likely to take a trip with friends this year, knocked off the top spot by travelers from the Philippines, followed by Vietnamese and Indian travelers. 

2023 Value hunters

When it comes to travelling with families or in a group, travelers worldwide are seeking more value for their trips with Budget Hotels, Agoda Homes vacation rentals, and Inclusive Resorts cited as the top three group travel preferences.

“Family travelers often have more complex requirements when choosing their holiday accommodation. Often they need more space, perhaps with cooking facilities as offered by Agoda Homes, or the services such as babysitting, kids clubs, extra beds or interconnecting rooms offered by family-friendly hotels. Being able to search on one platform, like Agoda, for accommodation, flights, ground transportation and fun filled activities at the destination takes away a lot of the hassle of travel planning, meaning there is more time to relax and enjoy spending time with loved ones,” Enric Casals continued.

Travelers from the Philippines (59%), India (44%) and South Korea (38%) showed a high preference for budget-friendly hotels, while those from Indonesia (42%), Malaysia (39%), and Taiwan (38%) preferred vacation rentals which tend to offer additional facilities such as kitchens or separate living and sleeping areas. This is in contrast to almost half of Japanese travelers (43%) who favored chain hotels as their accommodation of choice and 34% of Thai travelers who leaned towards the convenience of all-inclusive resorts.   

Border closures continue to concern travelers

Despite travel optimism and growth outpacing pre-COVID levels, 77% of travelers globally indicate some concern about international borders closing again while they are overseas. Travelers from most recently opened markets including South Korea and Japan are most concerned, in comparison to those from markets that quickly removed border restrictions including the US, Australia, and India.

Accommodation Preferences for family and group travel

Accommodation preference when travelling with family/group	Global Ranking	Most likely of all markets to consider each accommodation type	Least likely of all markets to consider each accommodation type
Budget Hotels	1	Philippines India South Korea	Vietnam Malaysia Australia / Singapore
Holiday Homes & Guesthouses	2	Indonesia  Malaysia  Taiwan	Japan South Korea Philippines / United States
All Inclusive Resorts	3	Thailand Vietnam South Korea	Japan US and Indonesia
Hotel Chains	4	Japan United States Singapore	Philippines Thailand Vietnam
Luxury Hotels	5	Taiwan India Singapore	Philippines Thailand Malaysia / Indonesia

Companion Trends

Travel companion expectations in the coming 12 months.

Companions	Global	Most Likely	Least Likely	Global	Most Likely	Least likely
Partner/ spouse	38%	India (51) Vietnam (48) Singapore (47)	Thailand (31) Japan, South Korea (33)	34%	Philippines (44) Malaysia (41) Indonesia (40	Japan, Singapore (25) Vietnam (28)
Immediate family (household)	52%	Singapore, Taiwan (61), Vietnam (59)	Japan (33), Australia (39) United States (42)	28%	Philippines (47), Indonesia (40), Malaysia (35)	Japan (14) Singapore (15) US (16)
Extended Family	42%	Indonesia (59) Philippines (58) Vietnam (58)	Japan (9) South Korea (15) Australia (27)	10%	Philippines (20) India (14) Thailand, Indonesia (13)	South Korea (1) Japan, Singapore (3)
Friends	50%	Vietnam (63), Taiwan (59), Thailand (54)	Japan (24) United States (41) Australia (42)	23%	India, Philippines (38) Indonesia (31)	Japan (9), Australia (11) Singapore, South Korea, United States (13)