1. APAC Travelers Choosing Boutique Hotels for New and Original Experiences

• The travelers who chose boutique hotels are the ones who appreciate experiencing destination just like the natives and discovering local hidden gems.
• They want to experience the culture of their destinations even in their accommodation. Boutique hotels seem to be the type of hospitality service that allows them to do so.
• To satisfy this demand, some boutique hotels are working towards creating local experiences in their facilities in winemaking, traditional gourmet cuisine, etc. These hotels can also tailor their design to immerse their customers into the destination.
• There are new types of emerging travelers in Asia-Pacific and they are explorers, followers, connectors, and opportunists.
• The largest share of travelers was segmented as "Explorers" (38%) who are motivated to travel for discovery and self-actualization.
• In this era of social media, they expect these experiences to be "share-worthy". This puts pressure on hotels to constantly improve and diversify their services to surprise their clients and meet their expectations.
• More affluent tourists in Asia-Pacific tend to spend more on experiences than on hotel accommodation, which shows that what they are looking for essentially is a unique and original service.
• One of the trends of boutique hotels in Asia-Pacific is to be eco-friendly with a commitment shown to protect the environment and be sustainable.
• An example is a hotel in Bangkok which has decided to ban single-use plastics. These hotels tend to offer vegan options and source their products locally.
• There is a growing market in Asia-Pacific for "Lifestyle Hotels" which is the next generation of boutique hotels, targeting millennials whose travel focus is on authenticity, community, and local experiences.
• Today’s discerning Chinese tourists are keen on experiential traveling. The boutique hotels have a strong focus on lifestyle and authenticity offering guests a memorable stay that caters to this requirement.
• Boutique hotels also cater to wellness tourism in the form of integrated health experiences and lifestyle coaching to relax the body and de-stress the mind with services such as spas, yoga, and detox programs.
• Some wellness resorts have a local approach for in-house physicians to prescribe traditional Chinese medication for guests.

2. Boutique Hotels Focus on Technology — Expectation of APAC Travelers.

• Boutique hotels are also focusing on providing the best technology for their clients such as AI travel assistants, smart rooms, and internet access, as customers use these tools to plan their trips.
• Technology is increasingly expected in hotels rather than being a nice-to-have feature nowadays, especially for the travelers in Asia and from Asia.
• Hotel guests are increasingly greeted by these once futuristic tech features around the world such as robot butlers, keyless entry, and virtual reality-enhanced room bookings.
• Technology can also be used to make the experience of checking in and out of a hotel a more enjoyable and seamless experience.
• The Explorers travel segment, a new type of emerging travelers in the APAC region are likely to book travel options/experiences on the go and they are most likely to plan travels on their own.
• They would prefer to have the best tech options, wherever they are staying to plan their travels. Hence, they would prefer boutique hotels that cater to their tech requirements.
• The technology option is essential as the emerging tourist market is millennials who quickly adapt to new innovations.