Travel and tourism are the two industries that experience the fastest-changing customer trends. Digital developments, political and economic incidents, seasonal abnormalities are of close concern to these industries.
Especially in our era, customer preferences are significantly affected by the degree of information and customer feedback they can access about properties and agencies. Businesses that follow the changing customer and industry trends closely will notice possible risks in advance, and turn them into advantages. Related studies provide an insight into the changing trends.
Google’s annual travel report is among these. Covering the year 2014, the travel report provides insights about how customers are affected when making booking decisions.
As HotelRunner, we have compiled the articles that might shape your online agency’s marketing strategies.
The impact of digital channels on booking decisions
In our era, everyone planning to travel definitely checks out the Internet and actually completes the whole process online. Google’s study reveals the following figures related to five thousand Internet users traveling for business or holiday purposes, who are US residents:
65 percent of holiday travelers and 69 percent of business travelers among the participants state that they check out the Internet before completing their travel plan.
32 percent of participants state that they are affected by their families and friends while deciding to book, 56 percent say that they are affected by the comments and information provided on the Internet.
Tools affecting the booking decision the most
Research results show that 83 percent of users searching information regarding their travel plans state that they are affected by social networks, photos and images. Among these channels YouTube covers 42 percent and Google+ covers 17 percent.
The study also reveals that users are affected by search engine results by 60 percent when planning their travel.
Studies also list at which stages travel videos affect users.
65 percent of participants are affected when planning to set out for a travel
48 percent are affected when about to decide what type of a travel plan they will follow
61 percent are affected by online videos while choosing their destination.
Search engines, hotel sites and online agencies rank the first
The study lists the 10 most effective sources in planning a travel as follows:
When business travelers are taken into account,
60 percent give priority to hotel websites and mobile applications.
55 percent use search engines,
53 percent check out airline companies,
45 percent definitely check out online travel agencies.
When holiday travelers are taken into account,
60 percent give priority to search engines
48 percent consider hotel websites and mobile applications
40 percent pay attention to online travel agencies
Results of this study show that digital channels shape purchasing/booking decisions almost in all stages of travel planning. If you want to benefit from the advantages of the digital world, meet HotelRunner now. You can carry your property to the Internet by following a few basic steps without needing any technical knowledge and get started with your sales. And HotelRunner’s expert team is right there whenever you need. Create your account immediately and start taking advantage of all these opportunities provided by the Internet.
