NEEDHAM, Mass., April 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor,
Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) today announced the results of the "Path to
Purchase" study, which provides an in-depth look into how consumers
research and book travel online, and the impact TripAdvisor content
has on these decisions. The study, conducted by comScore in 12
major travel markets across the globe and analyzing activity on
more than 325 transactional sites, shows that TripAdvisor reached
60% of all travelers (and 67% of U.S. travelers) who researched and
ultimately booked travel online in Q2 and Q3 2017.
For access to the full TripAdvisor Path to Purchase study, click
here: https://www.tripadvisor.com/TripAdvisorInsights/w2324
"The results of the Path to Purchase study show that on average
travelers take a month or more to research their trip, and that
during this time, TripAdvisor's influence over consumers' hotel and
flight booking decisions is staggering," said Martin Verdon-Roe, vice president of product
& marketing, hotels at TripAdvisor. "This gives savvy travel
businesses a crucial window of opportunity to engage with these
travelers on TripAdvisor at a highly influential stage, especially
through our display, metasearch and Business Advantage
products."
Globally, TripAdvisor is a Top Site for Travelers Prior to
Purchase
The study determined that across the globe,
TripAdvisor is the number one most-visited site and app by
consumers prior to booking in the top travel markets included in
the study. Every month, hundreds of millions of travelers come to
TripAdvisor to read candid reviews, check out photos and compare
prices to make sure they are booking a vacation that's right for
them. Following TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Trivago, Hotels.com and
Expedia were the most visited pre-transaction sites.
Most Popular
Travel Sites Pre-Transaction
|
TripAdvisor
|
70%
|
Booking.com
|
45%
|
Trivago
|
28%
|
Hotels.com
|
23%
|
Expedia
|
22%
|
The study also shows that TripAdvisor's unquestionable influence
of consumers' travel purchasing decisions spans categories,
regardless of whether consumers ultimately end up booking on a
hotel, online travel agent (OTA) or airline site.
% of Travel
Purchasers Who Visit TripAdvisor
|
Site of
Transaction
|
Global
|
U.S.
|
Hotel Site
|
74%
|
73%
|
OTA Site
|
67%
|
78%
|
Airline
Site
|
61%
|
66%
|
Vast Majority of Travel Searches Start out Generic
The
study found that travelers don't often have a clear destination or
even a specific hotel, airline or OTA brand from which to purchase
their trip in mind when they begin their research, and are
increasingly more comfortable beginning their travel research
without a brand or destination in mind.
While travelers might do many online searches over the course of
their travel research, when looking at their very
first search the study found:
- 73% of all first searches worldwide in 2017 were generic
with no brand or destination mentioned
- 63% of all first travel searches in the U.S. in 2017
were generic with no brand or destination mentioned
TripAdvisor Users More Engaged than Non-TripAdvisor
Users
Travel buyers who use TripAdvisor at some stage of
their online travel research are considerably more active during
the overall path to purchase (on all sites) versus buyers who don't
use TripAdvisor.
Aggregated
Worldwide Travel Paths
|
|
TripAdvisor
Users
|
Non-TripAdvisor
Users
|
Percentage
Difference
|
Visits per
User
|
34
|
10
|
+240%
|
Page Views per
User
|
182
|
56
|
+225%
|
Total Minutes per
User
|
164
|
46
|
+186%
|
How Brands Can Influence Travelers' Booking
Decisions
In an increasingly competitive marketplace,
hotels, airlines and other travel companies are looking for new
ways to engage with travelers, differentiate their brands and
increase conversions.
Last year, TripAdvisor announced a number of new and improved
paid opportunities to help travel businesses do just that.
Developed to address the specific needs of accommodation and
restaurant businesses, the new products allow subscribers to
showcase their properties on TripAdvisor, with access to
industry-leading tools that help them harness the network effect of
working with the world's largest travel site.
Business Advantage is an evolution of TripAdvisor's popular
Business Listings product that empowers accommodations to impact
booking decisions, differentiate themselves from competitors
measure and strengthen their online reputation by leveraging
industry-leading tools and reporting. Subscribers can choose from
two levels of access – Preferred and Standard – designed to provide
owners with a tailored solution to better meet their individual
needs.
For restaurants, their page on TripAdvisor is fast becoming
their window to the world. TripAdvisor Premium was developed as a
cost-effective way to showcase a restaurant, helping it stand out
to potential customers by pinning a favourite review, promoting the
top three reasons customers love the restaurant, and displaying a
multimedia Storyboard.
Most recently, TripAdvisor has launched Sponsored Placements, a
new advertising solution enabling accommodation and restaurant
businesses to capture the attention of travellers and drive
quality, targeted traffic to their property by advertising in high
visibility placements on the site, including above search
results.
Methodology
The "Path to Purchase Study" evaluates travel-related online
behavior from research to purchase. The study was conducted
by comScore using their proprietary desktop consumer panel data
from April – September 2017 across 12
global markets.
About TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor, the world's largest
travel site*, enables travelers to unleash the full potential of
every trip. With over 600 million reviews and opinions covering the
world's largest selection of travel listings worldwide – covering
approximately 7.5 million accommodations, airlines, attractions,
and restaurants -- TripAdvisor provides travelers with the wisdom
of the crowds to help them decide where to stay, how to fly, what
to do and where to eat. TripAdvisor also compares prices from more
than 200 hotel booking sites so travelers can find the lowest price
on the hotel that's right for them. TripAdvisor-branded sites are
available in 49 markets, and are home to the world's largest travel
community of 455 million average monthly unique visitors**, all
looking to get the most out of every trip. TripAdvisor: Know
better. Book better. Go better.
The subsidiaries and affiliates of TripAdvisor, Inc.
(NASDAQ:TRIP) own and operate a portfolio of websites under 20
other travel media brands:
www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.citymaps.com,
www.cruisecritic.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com,
www.flipkey.com, www.thefork.com (including www.lafourchette.com,
www.eltenedor.com, www.iens.nl and www.dimmi.com.au),
www.gateguru.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk,
www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.housetrip.com, www.jetsetter.com,
www.niumba.com, www.onetime.com, www.oyster.com, www.seatguru.com,
www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com,
www.vacationhomerentals.com and www.viator.com
TRIP-G
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SOURCE TripAdvisor, Inc.