Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,
Interesting statistics on the current online travel habits of vacationers. Certainly, this is highly sensitive information for us as we manage our various channels.
· 66 percent of leisure travelers now use the Internet to plan some aspect of their travel (versus 35 percent in 2000): this is a statistic that has variation depending on which survey you refer to. High, no matter which one and growing.
· Website of online travel agency
(Expedia, Travelocity) 31 percent
Search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN) 26 percent
Website of specific hotel chain 21 percent
. With the rankings clearly identified, you should take close stock of the OTA listings for your hotels – how are they showing up? Have you got key sell phrases clearly visible? Are you taking advantage of package discounts for multiple stays, participating in packaging with air, especially on your slower days?
. Search engines – this has a lot to do with your website management, PPC, etc, etc. Much info on this over past several email newsletters. If organic searches are not getting you high enough, get some advice on PPC. It has some great advantages.
. Brand.com specific sites: images, images – real important in getting that ‘sticky factor’. Does you brand offer landing pages? Can you click through to other sections of your site from the main page? Do they offer any custom search words (some brands do)? Have you listed all the amenities around your hotel, even within an hour’s drive?
- Some brands are now offering you a direct click from the brand.com to your own site, provided you comply with their guidelines (same look and feel as the brand.com). Ask the question – what do you gain by doing this? If you have them on the brand.com, and you can make that effective, what is the benefit of having them be able to click to your own site? You want your own site to be as varied and reflective of your character and area features as you can make it. You will direct them to the brand.com to book anyway so they can see that. If you have them at brand.com, you already have them so is the trade off between flexibility with your own site worth it for getting the two-way?
Take care!
Computer-assisted travel picks up
While the percentage of leisure travelers who report making reservations online has grown more than 37 percent since the year 2000, “Consumers’ search behavior has changed in recent years as people have become more familiar with search technology and the number of travel planning/purchasing sites has grown exponentially,” said Peter C. Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership.
According to the latest National Travel Monitor, 66 percent of leisure travelers now use the Internet to plan some aspect of their travel (versus 35 percent in 2000), while 56 percent now report making reservations online. The nationally representative survey of 1,590 active travelers was conducted during the months of February and March 2009 and is co-authored annually by Ypartnership and Yankelovich.
Travelers visit search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN first when considering vacation destination alternatives. The websites of specific countries or destination boards are visited next, followed by online travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity. Only 1 percent of travelers commence their search for a vacation destination by visiting a blog:
Visit first when selecting a destination
Search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN) 34 percent
Website of national tourist office/CVB 23 percent
Online travel agency like Expedia, Travelocity 22 percent
Website of hotel chain 8 percent
Web site of individual hotel or resort 7 percent
Blog 1 percent
Search patterns for selecting airline or lodging accommodations are understandably different. Consumers who are searching for these travel services first visit the websites of online travel agencies. Brand-specific sites follow closely when leisure travelers are selecting an airline, yet significantly less so when they select lodging. Meta search engines that compare fares are visited first by just over 1-out-of-10 travelers when selecting an airline:
Visit first when selecting an airline
Website of online travel agency
(Expedia, Travelocity) 42 percent
Website of specific airline 41 percent
Meta search engine that compares fares 13 percent
Visit first when selecting hotel/resort
Website of online travel agency
(Expedia, Travelocity) 31 percent
Search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN) 26 percent
Website of specific hotel chain 21 percent
Website of individual hotel/resort 10 percent
Meta search engine that compares rates 5 percent
For further information on the National Travel Monitor, please visit the publications section of www.ypartnership.com.
Source: 2009 National Travel Monitor, Ypartnership and Yankelovich
Nagib Lakhani RevMax Hospitality Consulting Services
O: (425)677-7866 C: (425)445-7750 F: (866)508-7866
nagib@RevenueMaxConsulting.com
4313 245th Avenue SE
Issaquah, WA 98029
