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Holidays Online Consumers Know What They Want and How to Get It

The average Internet user is now more discerning and adopts more sophisticated methods when searching for their holiday online. According to new research (source: directline holidays), online searches are now more precise than as little as two years ago. Rather than use general terms such as 's8216;holidays's8217;, 's8216;travel's8217; or 's8216;hotels's8217;, it is now more common for customers to use focussed and relevant phrases such as 's8216;Majorca half board holiday in 2007's8217;.



Holiday searches 's8211; the statistics

Google trends supports this theory showing year-on-year decreases in the generic terms. The details of directline holidays's8217; research includes findings that nearly three quarters of total searches contain 3 or more search terms and of that 73 per cent, a surprising 22 per cent contain 5 or more word phrases. Users now realise that the more specific searches will reward them with holidays that match their preferred criteria.



Consumer profile

Consumers who are choosing to use the more convenient method of buying online are meticulous as well as cost-conscious. As many as 77 per cent (source: Doubleclick 's8211; 's8220;search before the purchase's8221;) are now spending more than 1 week researching and finally selecting their holiday destination.



When it comes to price, another interesting statistic suggests that users are willing to 's8216;shop around's8217; before finally deciding on the right holiday package for them: 33 per cent of all travel website traffic has found its destination via another travel-related website (source: Hitwise UK 's8220;Travel report's8221;). It would appear that price comparisons play an important part in the holiday selection process. This theory is given more credence by the fact that on average, the consumer conducts 8 searches before settling on a particular holiday.



Number one search engine for holidays

Google takes the number one spot for the most used search engine. Last year alone, 500 million travel related searches were made via Google and gives Google 65 per cent (source: InsightExpress) of the market share closely followed by Yahoo! and MSN.



What does the future hold

Taking into account the statistics already mentioned, the online travel industry looks set to grow still further. According to research published by the European Travel Commission, the number of users visiting travel websites (particularly women) is increasing 's8211; a 4 per cent increase from 2003 to 57 per cent last year. Given that the Internet has overtaken both television and newspapers/magazines as the preferred source of travel information, higher levels of demand looks inevitable.



For more information, visit www.directline-holidays.co.uk



Media Contact:

Matt Adams

directline holidays

+44 (0)208 239 5000

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| Author | English Spoken | author robert turner |

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