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study conducted by Google on travel trends has found that a quarter of digitally-facilitated Indonesian travelers, although price-conscious, are in fact last-minute buyers, disregarding the age-old truism that it is better to book a trip in advance to save money.

The study, conducted between January 2017 and July 2018, showed that 24 percent of Indonesian travelers booked their accommodation less than one day before their trip. For comparison, 38 percent of Americans booked accommodation less than two days before their trip, according to a 2017 survey by market research firm Phocuswright.

The number of last minute bookings in Indonesia surged to 32 percent during the peak holiday seasons of Ramadan, Christmas and New Year, Google also found.

The internet search giant’s study also showed that Indonesian travelers spent a relatively short 13 days before picking accommodation, compared to the 22-day average in Japan and 16 days in Australia.

“Indonesians tend to be spontaneous and impulsive during holiday seasons,” said Zulfi Rahardian, Google’s Asia-Pacific travel industry manager, earlier this week.

The study also found that affordable prices, instead of locations and facilities, remained the primary consideration for Indonesian travelers throughout a trip’s planning phase.

He attributed the spontaneity trend to online travel agents, which had made it easier to buy things such as transportation, accommodation and tickets to attractions, while maintaining competitive prices through a myriad of discounts and deals.

A 2017 online survey by DailySocial.id identified nine notable online travel agents operating in Indonesia, with Traveloka dominating the market with 76.22 percent of respondents saying they had used services from the website. In comparison, only 51.11 percent had used Tiket.com and 27.47 percent had used PegiPegi.

Google’s study showed that the total value of the online travel market in Indonesia would likely increase steadily to US$25 billion in 2025 — the largest market in Southeast Asia — from just $5 billion in 2015.

But achieving such steady growth required the improvement of public infrastructure, the empowerment of human resources and the diversification of customer payment systems, Zulfi of Google said.

He was referring to, among other things, Indonesia’s low internet penetration of 50.4 percent as a result of poor telecommunications and mobility infrastructure, a shortage of 56 million skilled workers, and low nationwide credit card ownership of 10 percent that will push e-commerce services to offer alternative non-cash payment methods such as bank and convenience-store-facilitated transfers.

Google’s study also showed which domestic and international tourist destinations were increasingly popular among Indonesians. Domestically, there was a 48 percent increase in interest for eight “secondary cities” including Surakarta in Central Java, Pekanbaru in Riau and Pontianak in West Kalimantan. Malang in East Java, and Labuan Bajo and Sumba in East Nusa Tenggara stood out for having had the fastest rise in interest.

Homegrown online travel agent Traveloka backed up Google’s observations on the changes in consumer behavior and the popularity of tourist destinations.

Traveloka marketing vice president Kurnia Rosyada said spontaneous Indonesians were very likely to travel to familiar places, and they therefore dared to book at the last minute. Customers travelling to unfamiliar places, especially foreign destinations, would still book at least a week in advance.

“It is still better to book travel services in advance during peak travel seasons because the demand is increasing and there may be fewer available services,” said Kurnia, adding that last-minute bookings in off-peak seasons did not significantly affect prices. (nor)