Analysis by McKinsey and trivago: Corona is changing German travel habits
June 16 2020 - 3:00AM
- Booking requests have risen 65 percent in the first week
of June compared to May
- An exclusive analysis of data by hotel price comparison site
trivago shows that Germans are avoiding long-distance trips this
year
- No more short breaks: vacations for longer periods are now the
choice of preference
- Mountains over Mallorca: Austria prevailed over Italy and Spain
as the top choice for trips abroad in May
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY June 16, 2020 - The international
travel warning ended for most European travelers in mid-June—and
Germans are once again longing for a vacation. In the first week of
June, search queries and vacation booking requests shot up by 50,
respectively 65 percent compared to the May average. This
follows on from late March/early April where queries had collapsed
by 90 percent compared to the previous year. Particularly
striking is that Germans are sacrificing short breaks rather than
their main holiday. Interest in trips lasting more than
seven days is growing far faster than short breaks: compared
to 2019, there are far fewer searches for short breaks. Indeed, in
the first week of June 2020, searches for longer trips (lasting
7 to 14 days) saw roughly 40 percent year-on-year
increase. These are the results of a recent and exclusive analysis
conducted by management consultancy McKinsey & Company using
anonymized search query data from the hotel price comparison site
trivago. General search requests were analyzed as well as booking
queries or click-outs, where the user clicks on a link to a
selected offer.
The search data and booking queries show that concerns over
travel restrictions and the convenience of the travel destination
now play a major role in travel planning. Public announcements on
travel restrictions have a direct impact on search behavior, which
is why destinations in Germany and neighboring countries are
currently in such high demand. In May, 70 percent of German
searches were for domestic destinations compared to only
46 percent in May 2019. By the first week of June, this had
fallen to 62 percent.
Ease of planning and local offers influence choice of
destination
“As expected, demand for vacations in natural surroundings and
beautiful landscapes has significantly increased, while interest in
city breaks has collapsed. This trend will likely continue for a
long time even after Corona,” according to Axel Hefer, CEO
trivago.
A dashboard developed by McKinsey and trivago allows this data
to be interpreted, trends to be determined in travel behavior, and
success factors identified for travel firms. “People are now basing
their choice of travel destination on completely different criteria
than in the time before the coronavirus pandemic,” says Jürgen
Schröder, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company. “Not only do
pragmatic considerations play a role such as the convenience of
traveling to a location, but also the potential experience at the
destination itself. People wonder, for example: What will I be able
to do there? How will it work?”
Axel Hefer, CEO trivago: “Interestingly, the duration of
vacations being searched for has also increased. People seem to
feel much safer journeying in their own cars, so it’s hardly
surprising that shorter trips are less favored.”
The German coast is the new top destination of
Germans
The German destinations on the North Sea and Baltic Sea are the
winners in this crisis: With 14 percent of all search queries,
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has seen twice as much interest
during the crisis (April through June) as before the crisis
(7 percent). Interest in Schleswig-Holstein has also nearly
doubled from 6 percent to 11 percent. According to Jürgen
Schröder: “Low numbers of virus cases and ease of accessibility
with a car play a big role. Also, holidaymakers don’t want to miss
out on their preferred type of vacation, which makes the German
coast a good alternative to a Mediterranean holiday.” Compared to
before the crisis, interest in the top city breaks of Berlin,
Hamburg, and Munich has fallen by around 40 percent.
Demand for holiday apartments has also grown by more than
65 percent since the crisis. “Vacations in a holiday apartment
are less affected by the travel restrictions than, for example,
vacations in a hotel complex. They come closest to replicating that
pre-corona vacation feeling,” says trivago boss Axel Hefer.
Trips abroad are mostly being postponed to the end of
the year
The data shows that the popularity of a destination pre-corona
still plays a big role, and Germans are staying true to their
traditionally favored travel destinations of Austria, Spain, Italy,
the USA, and the Netherlands. With 14 percent of all booking
queries for foreign trips, Austria doubled its share between April
and June compared to the previous year (7 percent), even
overtaking the pre-crisis top destination of Spain. The analysis
shows that while Germans continue to look for foreign destinations,
actual booking queries tend to be for neighboring countries.
Equally, many Germans are deciding to postpone their travel
plans to later in the year. Although as in the previous year,
domestic trips are mainly planned for the summer months, the data
analysis shows a clear trend of international trips being postponed
to later in the year and early 2021.
The travel industry needs to respond quickly to changing
customer expectations
According to McKinsey consultant Schröder, the various players
in the travel industry including tourism associations, event
organizers and hotels face completely new challenges: “They need to
ensure that demand and expectations for a destination match the
realities and opportunities available at that destination. If this
is not the case, measures need to be taken to ensure travelers
still enjoy a good experience. Hotels, for example, need to know
when capacities can be ramped up or need to be scaled down.” Axel
Hefer adds: “Tourism agencies need to weigh up the risks of opening
attractions and the danger of a new COVID outbreak. Questions
and answers are changing daily, and plenty of flexibility is called
for.”
The analysis of the search queries offers an overview of the
factors that are most important to Germans who want to travel:
- Travel restrictions: Which destinations are currently open for
travel?
- Convenience: Which destinations can currently be reached
safely, e.g., by car, availability of alternative transport, and
other restrictions such as compulsory face-mask regulations on
airplanes, and so on.
- Travel sentiment: Given the current situation, which regions
will offer the best vacation experience, e.g., number of COVID-19
cases, local healthcare system, etc.
- Attractiveness: Given the current restrictions, how attractive
is the destination, e.g., opening hours of key attractions,
restaurant opening times, availability of accommodation, etc.
About trivago trivago is a leading
global hotel search platform focused on reshaping the way travelers
search for and compare hotels and alternative accommodations.
Incorporated in 2005 in Düsseldorf, Germany, the platform
allows travelers to make informed decisions by personalizing their
hotel search and providing them access to a deep supply of hotel
information and prices. trivago enables its advertisers to grow
their businesses by providing access to a broad audience of
travelers via its websites and apps. As of March 31,
2020, trivago has established 54 localized platforms connected to
over 4.5 million hotels and alternative accommodations, in over 190
countries.Media Contact:Stephanie
Lowenthalstephanie.lowenthal@trivago.com
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