Online travel services platform Fliggy released its 2024 Buy Now Plan Later Travel Insight today, 10th January.
The insight shows the booking volume for the platform’s buy-now / pay-later (BNPL) travel products in 2024 has increased by over 20% compared to the previous year.
This growth is largely driven by a younger demographic, with Generation Z consumers accounting for nearly a quarter of those utilizing this purchasing model.
Planning travel through BNPL is now a mainstream method of travel consumption.
A flexible way to plan that leads to savings
BNPL travel involves consumers purchasing single or multiple travel products in advance.
This model allows travelers to secure these options for future use, redeemable once they finalize their travel dates and destinations.
Generally, this approach provides greater cost savings compared to conventional direct booking, with many options offering the flexibility of full refunds without restrictions before the reservation is finalized.
Fliggy’s head of BNPL product operations Acton Chou said: "Looking ahead in 2025, the recreational tourism market is expected to experience steady growth in both scale and consumer spending. Our primary objective for travel companies is to expand our customer base and tap into the incremental demands of our existing customers. The inherent advantages of the BNPL model which include flexible pricing, adaptable benefits, and versatile usage make it a strategic tool for enhancing customer willingness to spend."
Significant trends in 2024
The insight indicates that the share of outbound tourism within the BNPL travel segment in 2024 has increased by 10 percentage points compared to the previous year, with hotel booking fulfillment rates for outbound travel surging by 70 percent year-on-year.
A noticeable trend is the expansion of popular travel destinations from a four-hour flight radius to a twelve-hour flight radius from China.
The top destinations for BNPL orders in 2024 include Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the Maldives, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and Indonesia.
Additionally, there is growing interest in emerging destinations such as Iceland, Norway, Kenya, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, which all have experienced rapid growth.
At the same time, travel experiences continued to diversify in 2024, with consumers exploring breathtaking landscapes such as Bomi in Tibet, embarking on self-driving tours across New Zealand, and taking luxury cruise ships to see albatross and penguins through polar tours.
According to data from Fliggy, there has been a rapid increase in demand for international cruises, overseas car rentals, and tickets to overseas amusement parks.
Indeed, the volume of international cruise bookings saw a near threefold increase year-on-year.
