Millions of UK consumers using Internet search to plan their travels
Yahoo have been conducting research amongst Brits using the Net and have calculated that nearly ten million travel purchases were made as a result of an Internet search during the three-month period December 2005 to February 2006.
The study doesn’t really shed much light on what kinds of travel was being arranged, and some figures aren’t hugely revealing. For example, 85% of people who searched for travel information online went on to book travel either on or offline within 90 days – well yes, that’s why they were searching for travel information…
It does suggest that we’re more net-savvy than US travellers: 40% of all searchers conducted a travel search in the UK compared to 27% in the US – but then maybe we’re spending more time online sniffing out travel bargains.
The survey also showed that search results influenced what sites people visited, with 39% of those surveyed visiting a travel-related web site they had not planned to visit, and 25% considering a brand based on its high position in the search results.
It seems that there’s a lot more being read into these results about how online advertising and direct marketing influences people.
To me it says:
- Person wants to travel
- Person uses Internet to research travel information
- Person clicks on websites near top of search results page
- Person books travel
That’s gotta be too simple.
