What travellers search before they book
Original research from SocialSeal's social search data: the questions travellers ask on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Xiaohongshu and AI answers, the content that answers them, and what that means for travel marketers.
- Social Snippets
The Asian Traveller & Intent to New Zealand
China, India, Japan and Singapore → New Zealand
What turns desire for New Zealand and Queenstown into a booking, read through social video search.
- Planning content pulls the biggest crowd: best time to go, and how the days fit together.
- Queenstown has few viral hits but the highest search demand of any stop in the dataset.
- 98.5% of this search real estate for New Zealand belongs to independent creators, not brands.
- Social Snippets
Secondary is not Second Best
Southeast Asia → Japan, Korea and Taiwan
How Southeast Asian travellers discover North Asia's secondary destinations through social video and AI search.
- Travellers save secondary destinations as a more local layer to add to a familiar trip.
- The save is emotional; the follow-up question is practical: can I eat, move, time it, and get back easily?
- Mood earns the save; order earns the trip.
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ASEAN Demand Signals for Malaysia Travel
Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei and the Philippines → Malaysia
The social search and platform behaviour shaping Malaysia travel demand across ASEAN.
- Singapore searches for route logic, Indonesia validates halal and family fit, Thailand responds to food and value.
- Family demand rises when the day looks easy: indoor stops, short rides and food that lands fast.
- Couple demand is route-led, not just luxury-led.
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APAC Demand Signals for Africa Travel
Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia → Africa
The social search and platform behaviour shaping Africa travel demand from Southeast Asia.
- Demand clusters into six entry doors, from Soft Landing and Slow Luxury to Wildlife Icons.
- Singapore plans routes; Malaysia and Indonesia look for reassurance first.
- Utility drives discoverability: high-intent travellers search for guides, checklists and proof points.
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Korea in the Search Bar
Korea travel discovery
How video-first social search and AI answers reshape Korea travel discovery and short-trip intent.
- Domestic short trips dominate demand, led by same-day and weekend planning.
- Six intent lanes surface most often, from shopping days and hotel stays to seasonal festivals.
- Romance-coded content earns higher save rates, signalling high intent.
- With Web In Travel
The New Wellness Traveller
Seven APAC markets
Why burnt-out travellers across APAC search for transformational wellness escapes, and how brands can answer.
- Burnout, immunity and resilience queries spike before travellers look at wellness destinations.
- Deep Spirituality, Active Nature and Cultural Healing form the core search clusters.
- Solution-driven language outperforms inspiration.
- With Web In Travel
Social Search Trends: China, Vietnam and Japan
Top source markets → China, Vietnam and Japan
A snapshot of inbound tourism interest for three Asian destinations, based on social search behaviour.
- Travellers increasingly value checklist-style content over pure entertainment.
- Vietnam is rising fast as an inbound hotspot, attracting very different traveller types.
- Bilingual, culturally tailored content and destinations beyond capital cities capture attention.
See where your brand shows up in these searches
A Visibility Check measures how often travellers find your brand, your competitors and creators when they search for your category.