By Daniel Hunter
More than half of tech-savvy holidaymakers are rejecting travel agents in their quest to design dream holidays on a budget. These figures come from the latest study into travel trends commissioned by the Tradedoubler Insight Unit.
The research reveals insights into the increasingly complex purchase journey travellers are willing to embark on in order to find the best possible deals.
Amongst those who had taken a holiday in the past two years, 62 per cent chose to put their own itinerary together, booking flights and hotels separately. Far fewer opted for traditional cost-saving, one-stop options such as package holidays (41 per cent) or all-inclusive trips (20 per cent).
The second major trend uncovered by the research is travellers’ use of performance marketing sites and apps - such as price comparison, loyalty and reward, voucher code or cash back. More than half use such sites to help them find the best price: 59 per cent for holidays, 57 per cent for hotels and 53 per cent for flights.
Even at the research stage of choosing a holiday destination, 44 per cent of travellers are using price-focused performance marketing sites — almost as many as those that seek out ideas and information via online travel agents (50 per cent).
“Holidaymakers now have unprecedented levels of information and offers at their fingertips and it’s driving a significant shift in how they research and book holidays,” says Dan Cohen, Regional Director, Tradedoubler.
“One in five now book holidays using a mobile, a figure that rises to 28 per cent amongst mobile-savvy 25-34 year olds. Airlines, hotels and holiday operators without a presence on the right performance channels are going to lose out,” continues Cohen.
Across Europe, €98.1bn is spent online on travel, making it the largest online business sector. Forecasts estimate that this figure will grow by seven per cent a year, reaching €112.2bn in 2014 and 41 per cent of all consumer travel spend is online; this will rise to 44 per cent by 2014.
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