Travel Search Trends: What Consumers Are Looking For When They're Searching For Vacations
60% of consumers considering summer vacations have been looking into travel plans since February, according to Think With Google, but 46% hadn’t decided on destinations when they started researching.
Top Searches: Why Consumers Travel & What Types Of Trips They Pursue
Microsoft Advertising reported that reasons for travel vary, including family, fun, adventure and education. “Searches for family vacations, luxury travel and couples travel and honeymoons grew at least 3X faster year-on-year (YOY) than searches in the adventure travel and ecotourism categories,” Think With Google reported.
The most popular search terms in the couples travel and honeymoons category, between 2014 and 2017, were:
- Honeymoon cruises for couples
- Affordable honeymoon destinations in the U.S.
- Places to go for anniversary weekend
- Inexpensive weekend getaways in Georgia
- Inexpensive weekend getaways in Texas
Within searches for family vacations and travel, between 2014 and 2017, the top five search terms were:
- Best vacations for kids under 10
- Inexpensive family vacations
- Baby-friendly vacations
- Family trip ideas
- Family vacation ideas with toddlers
What Consumers Rely On When Planning
When planning trips, 95% of consumers looking for travel say they trust online reviews from third-parties.
What Trusting Online Reviews Means For Digital Marketers
Highlight your brand’s satisfied customer reviews so new prospects can learn from others’ experiences. Promote your awards, reviews and other rankings to evoke a positive and trustworthy reputation. Pay close attention to popular review sites and provide feedback to reviews – both positive and negative – when appropriate.
Where Consumers Research Travel Options
For family vacations, couples travels, honeymoons and luxury travel, consumers research more on mobile devices than they do on desktops. While searching happens on mobile, consumers are three times more likely to book trips on desktop computers, likely because consumers find it easier to input their information on a larger screen.
What Multiple Screens Mean For Digital Marketers
Make sure your marketing initiatives are mobile optimized and have a seamless mobile-to-desktop experience. From your website to your email communications, everything should be easily digestible on both mobile and desktop, so you don’t accidentally lose prospects who view your marketing in only one format.
Where Consumers Want To Stay
33% of consumers will stay in vacation rentals instead of hotels after seeing photos of the location.
What The Desire For Visuals Means For Digital Marketers
Add photos to your paid search ads and any other marketing initiatives your brand is pursuing. Visuals can grasp consumer attention and pique their interest in your products or services.
As travel searches pick up and consumers grow antsy waiting for summer vacations, be sure to optimize your marketing to reach the right consumers at the right time with the right message by understanding what they search for and what they need to take action.