Welcoming the New Year with Grab!
Happy New Year! As you bid 2018 goodbye and ushered in a new year, where were you and how did you spend the last evening of the year? Perhaps you were one of more than 63,000 people who were in a Grab ride at the stroke of midnight! Or perhaps you were enjoying some Jo Jo hotpot for your final meal of the year. We dug into our data and learned many interesting things about how Southeast Asians celebrated the New Year. Read on to find out more!
Happy New Year! As you bid 2018 goodbye and ushered in a new year, where were you and how did you spend the last evening of the year? Perhaps you were one of more than 63,000 people who were in a Grab ride at the stroke of midnight! Or perhaps you were enjoying some Jo Jo hotpot for your final meal of the year.
We dug into our data and learned many interesting things about how Southeast Asians celebrated the New Year. Read on to find out more!
At the stroke of midnight on 1 January 2019,
A total of 31,465 rides were taking place across Southeast Asia!
Assuming each ride had at least 1 passenger and their driver, it means more than 63,000 people welcome the New Year in a Grab ride!
Folks were also very chatty on New Year’s Eve! Approximately 9.75 million GrabChat messages were exchanged between 5:00pm to midnight on 31 December 2018, including photos and voice messages!
What time were people heading out on New Year’s Eve? And what time did they head home?
A popular time in Southeast Asia to head out on New Year’s Eve seems to be around 10:00pm – 11:00pm, which was when we observed the biggest jump in the number of bookings compared to a regular Monday.
Most people were ready to call it a night between 01:00am – 02:00am, which was not only when we saw the highest number of bookings post-midnight, but also the biggest jump in the number of bookings compared to a regular Tuesday.
Singaporeans and Malaysians stayed out partying the latest! In the Klang Valley Grab saw 7.1x more bookings at 02:00am on 1 January 2019 compared to a regular Tuesday, while in Singapore Grab saw 9.5x more bookings at 03:00am on 1 January 2019 compared to a regular Tuesday.
| Peak hour for heading out | Jump in bookings compared to regular Monday | Peak hour for heading home | Jump in bookings compared to regular Tuesday | |
| Bangkok | 22:00 | 2.7x | 01:00 | 15.2x |
| Hanoi | 22:00 | 2.0x | 01:00 | 10.6x |
| Jakarta | 23:00 | 1.9x | 01:00 | 7.0x |
| Klang Valley | 23:00 | 2.3x | 02:00 | 7.1x |
| Metro Manila | 22:00 | 2.2x | 01:00 | 5.1x |
| Phnom Penh | 22:00 | 5.5x | 01:00 | 18x |
| Singapore | 22:00 | 1.4x | 03:00 | 9.5x |
| Yangon | 23:00 | 3.2x | 01:00 | 19.7x |
Before midnight (17:00 – 00:00)
After midnight (00:00 – 04:00)
Where did people choose to go to celebrate New Year’s Eve?
In Yangon, top drop-off points between 05:00pm – 00:00am were Thuwanabumi Event Park, Myanmar Plaza Shopping Mall and Junction City.
As you know, there was a biggest EDM Show in Yangon named Myanmar Premium Countdown held on 31st December at Thuwanabumi Event Park, Christmas Circus Lucky Draw at Myanmar Plaza and promotion programs at Junction City.
Top pick-up points between 00:00 – 04:00 are Myanmar Plaza Shopping Mall, Thuwannabhumi Event Park and The Penthouse Restaurant – Skybar – Lounge.
The largest number of rides per Grab driver during New Year night (17:00 – 11:59)
While most of us were out celebrating New Year’s Eve, many of our drivers were hard at work! Taking advantage of higher than usual demand, one of our drivers clocked 26 rides between 5:00pm and midnight on 31 December 2018!
Here is the most number of trips taken by 1 driver on New Year’s Eve:
- Bangkok – 24
- Hanoi – 23
- Jakarta – 19
- Klang Valley – 26
- Metro Manila – 23
- Phnom Penh – 18
- Singapore – 24
- Yangon – 17
Party hoppers!
There were many party hoppers out and about too, with over 70,000 passengers across Southeast Asia taking more than 2 Grab rides between 9:00pm and 3:00am, and even 3 passengers who took 8 rides that night!
