Agile travel and hospitality players are capitalising on the Pokémon Go craze in their marketing. Have they reaped tangible benefits from the game and will this mobile hit transform future travel?
The arrival of Pokémon Go has taken the world by storm and since its global release in over 70 countries in the last two months, the augmented reality (AR) game has captured the attention of savvy marketeers and tour operators as it creates a new tourist class and opportunities to sell travel.
A GPS-based exploration game, Pokémon Go mixes AR with real-world locations, allowing players to view and hunt for the brightly coloured creatures through their smartphones, collect bonus items at designated points called Pokéstops and send their Pokémons into battle at gyms (also real locations where players train the characters).
Pokémon Go’s focus on the users physically visiting and interacting with actual places also gels well with travel, as some commentators think the game will encourage players to leave their comfort zone and discover new locales.
Aussie tour operator Gecko Adventures was one of the first to jump onto the craze by launching a 45-day global Pokémon Go tour to Peru, Galapagos Islands, Egypt and South-east Asia, including stops in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.
James Thornton, managing director, Gecko Adventures, said: “All this exploring creates an appetite for adventure and getting behind the scenes of a destination – so a whole new generation has been bitten by the travel bug and wants to get out there and explore the world.”
Since launching the tour at the end of July, the tour company has seen a 10 per cent increase in bookings.
An enterprising Thai tour operator has also created Pokémon hunting tours.
Said Phuket Tour Holiday managing director Yongyuth Chankul, a Pokémon Go player himself: “We already have existing Phuket city tours that cover the island’s landmarks, many of which are also Pokéstops, so I created tours highlighting sites where monsters are in abundance.”
Interestingly, for a tour operator whose main clientele is the domestic sector, the Pokémon tours have helped to nab foreign tourists too. “All my Pokémon tours marketing is done in Thai, so I was pleasantly surprised to receive enquiries and interest from German and French travellers too,” he added.
In the wake of the recent bomb attacks at resort towns, Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports has indicated interest to work with local telecom provider True Corporation to add Pokéstops and gyms to various tourist destinations in the kingdom to promote tourism.
Other Asian attractions and destinations, too, have been quick to explore the marketing benefits of Pokémon Go, seeding their sites with virtual creatures and “lure modules” as a means to draw potential new customers.
Vivian Lee, executive director of sales and marketing at Ocean Park Hong Kong, said: “We noticed over 50 Pokéstops scattered across the park. We (would) release lure modules at these Pokéstops every Friday in August from 16.00 to 20.00 to provide non-stop luring of Pokémons.”
Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has similarly unleashed lures at its two popular attractions – S.E.A. Aquarium and Universal Studios Singapore – for visitors to play the game and get admission discounts.
According to a RWS spokesman, these lures had brought “increased visitorship” to both attractions, with players prolonging their stay and patronising the resort’s retail outlets and restaurants.
For Wildlife Reserves Singapore, which manages Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, Pokémon Go presented an opportunity to reach an untapped youth market, chief marketing officer Isabel Cheng shared.
She said: “Of course, real-life animals remain our main draw, but with these initiatives we hope that these youths will come to our parks for Pokémon but stay for the animals.”
While Cheng admitted that it is difficult to assess if the game has succeeded in attracting more footfall to the wildlife parks over the weekend when over 500 lures were released, many visitors were observed to be playing Pokémon Go in between checking out the animals, with a number of them doing that as a family.
By offering a 40 per cent discount off its admission fees for the first 100 visitors sporting the colour of the day – red, blue or yellow – each day, Sunway Lagoon in Selangor hopes to attract more than 100 players a day and some 2,700 additional visitors over the six-week campaign period, informed the park’s director of marketing Michelle Sonia Gregory.
Likewise, hotels have been quick to ride the fad. Hong Kong’s Ovolo Southside has its sights firmly on the millennials when it rolled out a a six-week luring campaign, charging zones, and a range of themed cocktails, incentives and prizes, all of which are designed to align with the tech-savvy Gen Y users.
“So far, (the Pokémon Go campaign) has provided direct sales to room bookings as well as visits to the hotel’s restaurants. We have also seen a number of new enquiries to the hotel and a strong uptick in search and visitors to our website,” said a hotel spokesperson.
Other hotels like Four Points by Sheraton Puchong in Kuala Lumpur and Kokotel Surawong in Bangkok, given their fortuitous proximity to Pokéstops, are dropping lures and blasting on social media for reasons to visit or book a stay.
However, in Cambodia, the game has been marred by negative publicity after tourists descended on the capital’s S-21 – Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum – where more than 12,000 people were brutally killed during the Khmer Rouge regime. It was host to two Pokémon gyms, four Pokéstops and a series of wild Pokémons.
Museum director, Chhay Visoth, said: “We do not welcome this crazy game because this place is not the place to play a game.” Players were immediately banned from the site.
The game has earned the irk of Malaysia’s Islamic authorities, who declared Pokémon Go a no-go for Muslims in the country, citing concerns of addiction, intrusion into personal privacy and craving for power, among others.
Safety remains a top concern for Patrick Fiat, general manager of Royal Plaza on Scotts, one of the Pokéstops in Singapore’s Orchard area.
“We hope that Poké trainers keep themselves aware of their surroundings and exercise vigilance when playing the game,” he remarked. “We would hate to see any mishap taking place at our Pokéstop.”
Tim Russell, co-founder & chief marketing officer, Representasia, thinks there is “a huge market” for Pokémon Go abstinence too, especially for destinations and attractions frustrated with their unauthorised appearance within the viral game.
“In this case, hotels should advertise themselves as Pokémon-free zones and request that guests refrain from playing in public areas,” he suggested. “Properties can request that their property be removed from the game (as Pokéstops or gyms).”
While it may well be a major passing fad, Pokémon Go’s engagement potential has proven to be immense and it’s likely to spawn more useful apps that allow travellers to explore and interact with the world.
Sentosa Development Corporation’s branding & communications director Tay Cheng Cheng sums it up: “The popularity of this app comes amid the convergence of technologies with location-based entertainment, and illustrates the direction in which visitor experience is headed.
“This provides valuable learning points to the industry as we look for further ways to innovate and enhance guest experience, and to leverage digital technologies for self-guided learning and discovery,” she said.
Reporting by Xinyi Liang-Pholsena, Paige Lee Pei Qi, Marissa Carruthers, Prudence Lui and S Puvaneswary
This article was first published in TTG Asia September 2016 issue. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.
