New Travel Trends Research

Trent Blizzard | 18 April 2006 |

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I am sitting at a hospitality industry conference right now down in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Gary Sain from YPB&R is doing a presentation about travel trends from their most recent research. Of special note:

Two places have grown in importance in terms of what consumers trust to base decision on:

30% of leisure travelers use weblogs and review sites to inform their decision
44% of consumers have confidence in a website to inform their decision

64% of all travellers go online to research travel decisions.

50% of consumers will book online in the general travel industry. 80% will book a hotel online. The average number of websites they look at to make decision (comparing and shopping) is 3.6

Two amenities have really grown in importance in the last year:

Quality of Beds
Breakfast included

Reconsider your breakfasts and the quality of your beds… and make sure you promote those amenities more prominently on your website.
The average booking window for an extended (week) vacation is 15 weeks. The average booking window for a weekend getaway is 8 weeks.

Trent Blizzard - Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.