Trends & Research

Where Travelers from the Key Source Markets Get their Inspiration and Information for Making a Destination Decision

June 1, 2016 by Tom Berrigan

In our first report on the results of her company’s study of the latest data on key international statements, the Inbound Report focused on travel spend, travel budget, length of itineraries and other related factors. In this issue of the Inbound Report, we look at what Erin Francis-Cummings, president and CEO of San Francisco-based Destination Analysts, has to say about the sources of information that travelers from key markets use for making a decision on a destination. The numbers come from the Destination Analysts’

The Destination Analysts report, “ The State of the International Traveler,™” which features 15 major global markets (of the Top 15 international source markets listed by the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office, all but Colombia and Spain were included in the survey) cover a wide range of travel-related activities as they related to the U.S.

Sources of International Destination Inspiration

Source	%
Opinions of friends and relativesin-person and/or through direct contact (e-mail, text, etc.)	56.60%
Online Mediatravel content found on the internet	52.20%
Travel agencies or tour operators	34.40%
Opinions of friends and relativesvia social media website	30.60%
Offline mediaprinted newspapers, magazines, etc.	25.10%
Television	23.10%
Movies	12.80%
Source: Destination Analysts

International Destination Inspiration:

Online Content vs. Direct Word-of-Mouth

Country	Online	Word-of-Mouth
Italy	63.30%	43.00%
Mexico	61.70%	58.60%
South Korea	61.30%	50.90%
Brazil	60.90%	63.30%
China	60.30%	59.60%
Argentina	59.00%	70.10%
India	55.80%	68.00%
Germany	51.20%	59.90%
Netherlands	49.50%	39.40%
Japan	43.70%	42.20%
Australia	43.50%	60.50%
Canada	42.70%	67.30%
UK	43.50%	53.10%
France	36.40%	56.80%
Source: Destination Analysts

Digital Resource Usage

Resource	Percentage Who Use
Online search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.)	67.20%
Online travel agencies (Expedia, Travelocity, etc.)	54.90%
Official visitors bureau website	34.90%
Tour agent or tour operator websites	32.60%
Online travel reviews, blogs, itineraries or opinions from other travelers	32.00%
Online mapping website (Google Maps, Mapqest.com, etc.)	26.70%
Social media websites (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.)	21.60%
Travel or lifestyle magazine websites (online content)	17.50%
Online video travel content	15.90%
Official visitors bureau social media content	14.50%
Travel-related apps on a mobile phone	11.60%
Travel-related e-mail newsletters	11.30%
Home-sharing or vacation rental websites (AirBnB, etc.)	11.10%
Newspaper travel section (online content)	10.20%
Source: Destination Analysts

Traditional Resource Usage

Resource	Percentage Who Use
Opinions of friends, colleagues or relatives	57.40%
Travel agentoff line (traditional or store front)	47.20%
Commercial guidebook	28.80%
Travel or lifestyle magazine	26.30%
Travel related TV programming	25.40%
Official visitor information center	22.20%
Newspaper travel section (printed)	16.40%
Travel related radio programming	5.40%
Source: Destination Analysts

Use of Opinion of Friends and Relatives via Social Media Websites

For Destination Inspiration (by Market)

Country/Market	%
China	47.50%
India	44.60%
Brazil	44.20%
Mexico	43.30%
Argentina	38.90%
South Korea	33.00%
Canada	29.40%
Netherlands	26.70%
Germany	22.70%
Australia	21.50%
Italy	19.50%
UK	19.30%
France	19.20%
Japan	19.00%
Source: Destination Analysts

Likely Use of Social Media Websites

To Plan International Travel (by Market)

Country/Market	%
Brazil	40.70%
India	39.00%
Mexico	32.20%
China	30.00%
Argentina	27.80%
South Korea	20.10%
Italy	19.20%
Canada	18.20%
Australia	16.10%
Netherlands	14.90%
UK	12.60%
Germany	10.90%
Japan	10.90%
France	10.70%
Source: Destination Analysts

What is the Most Expensive Destination in Canada?

June 1, 2016 by Tom Berrigan

Vancouver has just been named Canada’s most expensive city based on the results of a new survey released by CheapHotels.org. Lodging costs in Canada served as the basis for the distinction. The survey covered hotel rates across 30 main urban destinations in Canada.

The survey established for each Canadian city destination the average rate an overnight guest can expect to pay for the cheapest available double room there during the month of June. June was intentionally chosen for comparative purposes since most destinations in Canada reach their highest average rates then.

Vancouver, British Columbia topped the rankings with an average overnight rate of $164 (CAD) for its least expensive double room. It must be pointed out that the survey excluded hotels that were not centrally located, that were rated less than three stars and that had earned an overall negative average guest rating.

Coming in second on the survey was Canada’s largest city, Toronto, Ontario. An average nightly rate of $152 put it number two among all destinations considered. Rounding out the Top 3 was Halifax, Nova Scotia. At just a few dollars cheaper, $148 per night, it came in third on the survey.

Cost of a Night’s Stay in Key Destinations in Canada

Destination & Rank	Rate $Can	Rate $US¹
1. Vancouver, British Columbia	$164	$126
2. Toronto, Ontario	$152	$116
3. Halifax, Nova Scotia	$148	$113
4. St. Johns, Newfoundland	$146	$111
5. Calgary, Alberta	$142	$108
6. St. Catharines, Ontario	$138	$105
7. Kingston, Ontario	$137	$104
8. Richmond, British Columbia	$134	$102
9. Laval, Quebec	$127	$97
10. Windsor, Ontario	$127	$97
11. Winnipeg, Manitoba	$124	$95
12. Hamilton, Ontario	$122	$93
13. Galineau, Quebec	$122	$93
14. Vaughan, Ontario	$121	$92
15. Regina, Ontario	$121	$92
16. London, Ontario	$119	$91
17. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	$118	$90
18. Kelowna, British Columbia	$117	$89
19. Quebec City, Quebec	$116	$88
20. Ottawa, Ontario	$113	$86
21. Montreal, Quebec	$112	$85
22. Trois Riveres, Quebec	$112	$85
23. Thunder Bay, Ontario	$111	$85
24. Sudbury, Ontario	$111	$85
25. Barrie, Ontario	$108	$82
26. Edmonton, Alberta	$106	$81
27. Surrey, British Columbia	$106	$81
28. Markham, Ontario	$94	$72
29. Brampton, Ontario	$86	$66
30. Mississauga, ,Ontario	$85	$65
¹ Conversion figures prepared by Inbound Report, using xe.com. Figure is rounded to nearest dollar.
Source: CheapHotels.org

¹ Conversion figures prepared by Inbound Report, using xe.com. Figure is rounded to nearest dollar.

Source: CheapHotels.org

A Note on Methodology: The table compares the cost of lodging for 30 city destinations in Canada for the month of June 2016. The survey considered all 18 destinations with a population of greater than 250,000 as well as 12 popular cities with a population of greater than 100,000. The prices displayed reflect the average rate for each city’s least expensive available double room (minimum 3 stars) for the time period of June 1st to 30th, 2016.

While Overall UK Leisure Market Grows, Package Sales Lose Share

June 1, 2016 by Tom Berrigan

According to new data made available by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), while the number of package sales made by British travelers increased in 2015, those sales have fallen behind the pace set by the overall leisure market. The new data also show that, overall, overseas travel by UK travelers increase by nearly 10 percent last year; this includes travel to the USA. Final figures on travel to the USA are not yet available. Commenting on the increase, the British travel industry trade organization, Abta, said that the 9.4 percent rise in overseas travel in 2015 was “the largest annual rise in nearly 20 years.” Some highlights from the ONS numbers:

—Package holiday sales rose by 5.1 percent to 16.7 million in 2015.

—The total number of overseas breaks increased by 9.4 percent to 42.2 million over the same period.
—Total spending on all overseas holidays added up to £26.3 billion ($38.5 billion) in 2015 … the first time it has exceeded £25 billion ($36.6 billion) since the pre-recession year of 2008).
—Of this total, £11.5 billion were spent on package holidays.

—Package holidays accounted for 39.6 percent of all international leisure trips last year; they accounted for a 41.1 percentage share of the market in 2014.

—Even though share fell by 1.5 percentage points, the number of package holidays purchased in 2015 increased by 808,000 over 2014.

—Packages have been steadily recovering since 2010 (with the exception of 2012 when sales dipped by 1.8 percent) and have been growing at an average annual rate of 3.1 percent over the past five years.
—Package sales reached their lowest point in 2010 when British travelers purchased 14.3 million package holidays; 18.95 million packages were sold in 2006.

— The ONS figures also showed that the average amount spent on a package holiday in 2015 was £687 ($ 1,000) which was same as in 2014 and was also higher than the average for all holidays of £623 ($911) per trip.

Why Are Tourico Scientists Mining the Big Data Lodes?

May 25, 2016 by Tom Berrigan

Its Scientists Are Mining the Big Data Lodes: Orlando-based Tourico Holidays announced on May 25 that it has formed an elite team of computer scientists at its technical and research company, Travel Global Systems (TGS), that is dedicated exclusively to a new data mining effort which is intended to identify the origin and cause of shifts in travel booking behavior, and provide insights that enable distributors to optimize their marketing and sales. The data mining initiative will examine over 200 million travel searches generated daily by Tourico—and cross-reference it with travel market data available from nSight and other sources for a comprehensive analysis of industry trends.

“Our system sees billions of searches each week—providing massive piles of data on all different types of travel offerings –from air and hotel, to cruises and vacation homes,” said Einat Aviv, the data mining team leader for TGS who has undergraduate and graduate degrees in statistics and methodology and statistics, respectively, from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “By combining this intelligence with the data that’s currently available in the travel ecosystem, we’re able to capture a 360-degree-view of the industry—and gain a much better understanding of supplier trends and client demand. To our knowledge, this type of effort has been unprecedented in our sector of travel.”
How it Will Work: Tourico won’t be selling the big data or any of its 50 or so business intelligence modules. Rather, a company spokesman told the Inbound Report, the new data mining program will ultimately allow Tourico to customize its travel solutions for clients and partners, helping them build individual product offers based on regional travel trends, booking behaviors, and customer profiles. “By tailoring its offerings –including hotel, air, car rental, attractions, and more—Tourico’s partners and agents can improve conversion rates and significantly enhance bottom-line revenues,” the spokesman said.

For example, he explained, “Our top clients in China increased searches to Phuket, Bangkok and Singapore X 1,000 year-over-year since 2015. Tourico’s data mining team is working to better understand the exact preferences of those top clients and create a ‘target list’ to fit their needs. Combining Tourico’s proprietary data with external travel data will help the wholesaler tailor its offerings to these Chinese clients—and help them increase their bookings. Also, as the business intelligence modules predict a growing demand in certain Chinese cities, Tourico will work to increase their supplier contracts there, to meet the demand and further increase bookings. “

The data mining initiative also provides Tourico with better insight into “the global travel ecosystem,” allowing the operator to better predict upcoming changes and which suppliers they should contract.

The Tourico database processes over 200 million searches per day and the new data mining team is combining their proprietary information with external travel sources. The company says that it “is the first and only company in the space to utilize big data to steer the business.”

“This new initiative is huge for our business – and our industry,” said Aviv, who is leading a team of 10 scientists in the data mining project., adding, “this is the beginning of a new chapter in travel intelligence – and the first page turns today.”

UK’s High Street Agencies a Thing of the Past?

May 25, 2016 by Tom Berrigan

News commentators all across the UK were wondering aloud last week if there is a future for the traditional travel agency—known in the UK as a high street shop—in the research and booking of holidays. Driving the speculation were some key numbers from a new survey conducted by Survey Opinionway for Kayak. One news report speculated that the high street agency could be gone in five years.

Holiday Booking Method of UK Adults

Year	% Who Book through Traditional Agency	% Who Book Online
2006	57%	35%
2016	19%	79%
Source: Survey Opinionway

Breakdown of Online Bookings

Channel	% Booking
Web-based travel agencies	50%
Airline and hotel websites	47%
Travel search engines	24%
Source: Survey Opinionway

“The research is a worrying signal for high street travel agents but isn’t entirely shocking,” said Loella Pehrsson, regional director at Kayak. “Given the internet allows you to not only shop around, but browse and book holidays from the comfort of your own home, it’s no surprise that Brits are increasingly choosing this option over high street travel agents.”

In Fact, UK Travelers Using OTAs More and More on their Path to Booking: News of the Kayak survey followed the release of another 39-page report, “The British Traveller’s Path to Purchase,” which shows that, although UK holidwaymakers still rely a good deal on word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family in their decision-making process, it is primarily an online venture as they get closer to the point of booking. Also, more British travelers than ever are using mobile devices to facilitate their holiday bookings.

Online and Offline Resources

Influencing a Holiday Booker’s Destination Decision

Resource	%
Family/friend recommendations	18%
Online travel agencies (Expedia.com, etc.)	15%
Search engines (Google.com, etc.)	11%
Airlines sites (United.com, etc.)	9%
Hotel sites (Marriott.com, etc.)	8%
Travel information sites (Tripadvisor.com, etc.)	6%
Search engine travel sites (Yahoo.com travel, etc.)	5%
Online travel guide sites (LonelyPlanet.com, etc.)	4%
Destination site (Visitcalifornia.com)	3%
Source: Expedia Media Solutions

And, clearly, greater reliance on the sites of online travel agencies (OTAs) has become a fact of life as they near their point of purchase. Illustrating the point are the following tables and charts from the survey, which was underwritten by Expedia Media Solutions, Inc.