MAM
MPA forecasts India to lead APAC in ad spend growth
MUMBAI: Ad growth in India–a contender for Asia’s most dynamic market–was weighed down in 2017 by the lingering effects of demonetisation as well as a new goods and services tax, which disrupted advertiser supply chains, inhibiting marketing activity in the process, according to a Media Partners Asia (MPA) report. Net ad spend consequently grew by 6.9 per cent in 2017 to total $9.0 billion, ending three successive years of double-digit growth. Nonetheless, India should re-emerge as APAC’s fastest-growing ad market over the next five years. MPA analysts forecast a 10.9 per cent CAGR in net ad spend in India from 2017 to total $15 billion by 2022.
Advertising revenue across Asia Pacific insreased by 6.1 per cent in 2017 to hit $173 billion and is on course to grow by a further 6.2 per cent in 2018 to move close to $184 billion this year, the report stated.
Published today, Asia Pacific Advertising Trends 2018 forecasts net ad spend after commissions and discounts across 14 major markets in the region. The region’s advertising outlook remains positive with MPA analysts forecasting ad gains in almost all markets in 2018 and ad growth across the board over 2017-22. The MPA expects net ad spend in APAC to total $226 billion by 2022, having grown by a 5.5 per cent CAGR from 2017.
“Market momentum for Asia Pacific as a whole should hold steady over 2018 and 2019, but we expect a slight deceleration from 2020 as online advertising, increasingly the main engine of growth across the region, settles into a gentler trajectory in some large ad markets,” remarked Vivek Couto, executive director, Media Partners Asia. “Much of digital’s growth will be driven by China, which should retain more than 60 per cent of online advertising in Asia Pacific over our forecast period.”
Couto added: “Traditional TV advertising is now in or on the verge of decline in most countries, having peaked at $54 billion across the region in 2017. That said, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand are notable exceptions, underscoring the ongoing importance of mass-market broadcast as a platform for reach and awareness in these growth economies. Overall, TV advertising should contract very slightly from 2017 to 2022, at a -0.1 per cent CAGR. Print advertising, however, is on the retreat almost everywhere, although both newspaper and magazine advertising will continue to grow at a modest single-digit pace in India. Out-of-home, meanwhile, remains on an upward trajectory in most markets, benefiting from ongoing urbanisation as well as digital upgrades.”
While the overall rate of advertising growth for APAC is slowing, a mixed picture emerges on the ground. Ad spending over 2017-22 should pick up speed compared with 2012-17 in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. At the same time, cornerstone markets such as India, Indonesia and Japan should be able to sustain the pace they have set over the past five years.
The pattern of ad growth across Asia Pacific is becoming increasingly determined by online media, which will soak up the vast majority of new ad dollars in the region for the foreseeable future. MPA estimates that internet advertising in APAC grew by 18.1 per cent in 2017 to nudge past $76 billion, with a projected 14.4 per cent growth in 2018 taking the total to $87 billion this year.
Online video advertising meanwhile is entering into a red-hot growth phase, powered by the rising prominence of high-speed broadband. The MPA forecasts that by 2022, online video platforms will contribute at least 10 per cent of all advertising in nine markets: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam, compared with just one market (Taiwan) in 2017.
Also read:
Ad spend on connected TV globally slated to grow in 2018
Digital ad spend pegged at Rs 13000 crore in 2018
MPA: India & China power APAC ad rev, ads in largest medium TV still robus
MAM
Agoda honours over 200 Indian hotels with Gold Circle Awards
Platform celebrates top performers as international searches for India surge.
MUMBAI: When it comes to rolling out the red carpet for hotels, Agoda clearly knows how to make the awards feel golden especially when over 200 Indian properties are shining bright this year. Agoda has awarded more than 200 hotels across India in the 17th edition of its Gold Circle Awards, placing the country fourth globally in the number of awardees. The annual honours recognise properties that deliver consistently high guest standards, strong digital engagement and operational adaptability. This year’s winners were heavily concentrated in India’s top business-and-leisure hubs such as Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru.
Interest in travel to India has grown significantly among international travellers, with accommodation searches experiencing a 24-fold year-on-year increase. Searches from the United Arab Emirates rose 81 per cent compared with the previous year, while travellers from Malaysia, the United States and Singapore recorded 40 per cent growth.
This momentum coincides with the Government of India’s announcement at the South Asia Travel and Tourism Exhibition to double airport capacity, a move expected to strengthen international connectivity and unlock further hotel and tour demand as infrastructure scales up to meet tourism growth that is currently outpacing supply.
Agoda country director for the Indian Subcontinent and Indian Ocean Islands Gaurav Malik said the rising interest is a win for both the market and hoteliers. “It’s encouraging to see how quickly the ecosystem and its partners are rising to meet that demand. As connectivity improves and airport capacity expands, India is well positioned to welcome even more travellers and to showcase the incredible depth and variety of experiences the country has to offer,” he noted.
2025 Gold Circle Awards ranking by market (number of winners):
Globally, the 17th edition of Agoda’s Gold Circle Awards recognised over 3,000 hotel partners for excellence in operational performance and guest experience. Insights from Agoda’s “Tailored to Win” report further highlight that nearly 98 per cent of Indian hotels using advanced localisation strategies reported a positive impact on revenue, underscoring the importance of tailored content, payments and guest touchpoints in capturing both international and domestic demand.
In the race for travellers’ attention, it seems Indian hotels are not just keeping pace, they’re earning gold medals while doing so.
