research and analysis into online consumer behaviors and ... · marketing analysis use the...

REPORT EXTRACT

Smart Analytics 2015: Identify, Track and Target the Modern Digital Consumer Effectively

Research and analysis into online consumer behaviors and best practice for using analytics to boost conversion and retention

Consumer profilingA global EyeforTravel Consumer Survey of 3,500+ respondents that reveals preferences, behaviors and the most successful marketing and booking channels

Strategic insightIncrease market share, profitability and customer retention rates through case studies and interviews with leading hotel and OTA brands alongside an Executive Survey

Marketing analysisUse the intelligence in this report to improve your marketing capabilities and reduce customer acquisition costs

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Industry overview

To the outsider, travel and tourism seems a simple concept – people choose a destination, a means of travel and a place to stay. In reality, it is a constant arms race that has seen the cost of acquiring a customer consistently rise and an ever-growing list of intermediaries compete for the customer’s attention and wallet.

Each consumer takes inspiration from numerous sources, considers a complex matrix of factors in choosing their destination and hotel, before trawling a multitude of sites looking for the best deal. During this process, they cross between devices, making both tracking and presenting information even more challenging. To travel marketers it can therefore seem a bewildering landscape, within which it is difficult to know what consumers are looking for and which data are important.

This report simplifies the picture through a snapshot of how the global travel consumer moves from initial inspiration to making a reservation informed by more than 3,500 respondents in our EyeforTravel/WAYN Consumer Survey. Analysis of this is complemented by:

■ Case studies from market leaders, including Carrier.co.uk, Attraction Tickets Direct, IHG® and Hard Rock

■ Interviews with top industry figures

■ An Executive Survey of data and marketing professionals

■ Up-to-date market research

Leading research from EyeforTravel

Cutting edge research into:

■ The consumer journey: in-depth analysis, following consumers from their sources of inspiration to where they make their reservations.

■ Selecting the right marketing channel: learn how to reach consumers at ALL stages of the journey by un-derstanding the best channels on which to reach them with.

■ Boosting conversion rates: uncover the latest strategies and techniques to increase sales from website presentation to email marketing.

■ Tailoring your strategy: how to use analytics to refine your approach, from appealing to broad market seg-ments down to marketing to individuals.

■ Tracking customers: get the latest ideas in tracking across devices and how to reach customers in the multi-screen environment.

■ Mobile: find out how mobile is changing travel distribution and how to approach this to make better gains.

■ Industry trends: trend analysis across marketing, tracking, loyalty and distribution.

■ Exclusive industry insight: take a look at how leading industry leaders are tackling the issues surrounding data in travel to help you build a stronger analytics strategy.

For more information visit www.eyefortravel.com/reports sMArt AnALytiCs | 2

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Key questions addressed

■ What is the consumer’s search process and what logic are they using to make their decisions?

■ What are shoppers looking for in an online experience and what drives them away?

■ What is the best way of tracking consumers across devices?

■ How do you build an effective targeting strategy in a cost-effective manner?

■ How do you build profiles and segments that can enhance relevancy and conversion?

■ What are the key rules and regulations regarding data usage and protection in key markets?

■ How are industry leaders applying analytics?

■ How do you re-engage with customers after their booking and use loyalty programs to boost revenues?

■ How is metasearch changing the market space?

Who needs to buy this report

■ Marketing and eCommerce managers – learn how to reduce the spiralling cost of customer acquisition, as well as how to increase the probability of repeat business, with intelligence on communications, segmentation, tracking, targeting and personalization, alongside consumer behaviors, perspectives and preferences

■ data professionals – understand how the hospitality industry is approaching the complex data challenges it is facing and which areas to focus your data strategy on in 2015

■ Brand and product managers – see how prominent brands position themselves and how they draw the customer into a closer relationship that fosters repeat bookings

■ Consultants, analysts and business intelligence professionals – use this detailed guide to uncover the current state and future of travel distribution from the perspectives of both customers and companies that can be used to inform your focus in 2015

■ Customer relationship and loyalty programme managers – benchmark your performance, learn about best practice for loyalty programmes and what customers want from loyalty programmes


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Contributors include:

Acknowledgements

EyeforTravel would like to acknowledge, with great thanks, the contributions of our advisory panel of thought leaders and industry experts. Each individual below provided insights and analysis to ensure the focus and quality of this report reflect the highest industry standards.

More than 10 executives and consultants contributed insights, analysis, and feedback to create this report. Please note, the list below does not represent all the industry leaders involved, however, as some sources preferred to remain anonymous.

Adam Jay | Senior Vice President, Product & Global Marketing, Hotels.com

James Maley | Senior Display & Meta Marketing Manager, Hilton Hotels and Resorts

kim Matlock | Senior Director, Digital Marketing & CRM, Hard Rock

ian McCaig | Chief Marketing Officer, Qubit

daniel Morley | Head of Digital, Best Western GB

Jim sprigg | Director Database Marketing & CRM Solutions, IHG

Menka uttamchandani | Vice President, Business Intelligence, Denihan Hospitality Group

Jesper with-Fogstrup | Managing Director, LateRooms.com


CON

TENTS

Contents

www.eyefortravel.com SMART ANALYTICS | 6

Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

About EyeforTravel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Executive Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1. Understanding the customer journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1.1.Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1.1.1.Friends most influential in the inspiration and research phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

1.1.2.Location, weather and price influence choice – but price usually wins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

1.2. Booking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

1.2.1. Reminders are the key to cutting through the clutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

1.2.2. Brand expectation over customer experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

1.2.3. Case Study: Carrier.co.uk – creating an award-winning web experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

1.2.4. Understanding the customer’s decision-making process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

1.3. Devices/Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

1.3.1. The growth of multi-device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

1.3.2. Tracking across devices and platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

2. Personalization and targeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

2.1. Personalization and optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

2.2. Data management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

2.3. Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

2.3.1. Ad preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

2.3.2. Sharing data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

2.4. Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

2.5. Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

2.5.1. Age-old questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

2.6. Metasearch moving in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

2.7. Pushing personalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

2.7.1. Case Study: Attraction Tickets Direct (ATD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

2.7.2. Micro-Targeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

2.7.3. Case Study: IHG®’s predictive modeling process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

2.7.4. Finding segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

2.7.5. Using real time and predictive analytics in pricing strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

3. Loyalty, retention and reselling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

CON

TENTS


Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

3.1. Gaining loyalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

3.2. Loyalty schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

3.3. Case Study: Hard Rock Rewards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

3.4. Reselling and retargeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

3.5. Upselling and cross-selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

3.6. The Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

4. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

LIST OF FIG

URES


List of FiguresFigure 1: Which of the following has given you inspiration to go on a holiday in the last year? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Figure 2: Calculating your NPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Figure 3: What services do you use to research a trip? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Figure 4: Are the following conditions important when choosing your holiday? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Figure 5: How important are these factors when compared with price? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Figure 6: How useful would you find the following? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Figure 7: Do any of the following stop you from using a travel website? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Figure 8: I would welcome advice on the following travel products via smartphone on my trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Figure 9: Sales of flights and hotels by day of week and device type, Q1 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Figure 10: Multichannel behavior – The UK Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Figure 11: What share of your overall booking (volumes) do you expect to come from mobile devices in the coming 12 months? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Figure 12: Which channel(s) do you expect to yield the biggest growth in booking (volumes) for the coming 12 months? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Figure 13: Younger age groups rely on social media for inspiration more than friends and family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Figure 14: How far are you able to track customers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Figure 15: Unique open rates for emails with personalized subject lines by industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Figure 16: Which of the following is a spending priority for your marketing strategy in the next 12 months? . . . . . . 37

Figure 17: TV ads more effective than online; online ads ‘annoying’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Figure 18: Traditional media remains a strong marketing and advertising format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Figure 19: What type of digital marketing gives your organization the greatest return on investment? . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Figure 20: Professional advertising still most effective, user-generated gaining traction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Figure 21: Would you be willing to give a travel organization any of the following in order to receive better deals, search results and recommendations? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Figure 22: Younger age groups research travel more on social media than older customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Figure 23: Younger age groups more willing to share mobile data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Figure 24: Percentage of respondents who used price comparison websites to research a trip – breakdown of top 20 countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Figure 25: Percentage of respondents who used price comparison websites metasearch to book a trip – country breakdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Figure 26: Benefits and prime personalization targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Figure 27: Attraction Tickets Direct personalized offer site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Figure 28: Would the following incentivize you to join a travel company’s loyalty program? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Figure 29: Does your hotel have a loyalty program? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Figure 30: What kind of effect has this loyalty program had on demand? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

LIST OF TA

BLES

Table 1: Which of the following has given you inspiration to go on a holiday in the last year? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Table 2: What services do you use to research a trip? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Table 3: Are the following conditions important when choosing your holiday? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Table 4: How important are these factors when compared with price?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Table 5: How useful would you find the following? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Table 6: Do any of the following stop you from using a travel website? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Table 7: Top 10 Travel Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Table 8: Top 10 Accommodation and Hotel Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Table 9: Results of the MyCarrier awareness campaign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Table 10: What share of your overall booking (volumes) do you expect to come from mobile devices in the coming 12 months? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Table 11: Which channel(s) do you expect to yield the biggest growth in booking (volumes) for the coming 12 months?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Table 12: Which of the following have given you inspiration to go on a holiday in the last year? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Table 13: How far are you able to track customers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Table 14: Which of the following is a spending priority for your marketing strategy in the next 12 months? . . . . . . . 37

Table 15: What type of digital marketing gives your organization the greatest return on investment? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Table 16: Would you be willing to give a travel organization any of the following in order to receive better deals, search results and recommendations? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Table 17: What services do you use to research a trip? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Table 18: Would you be willing to give a travel organization any of the following in order to receive better deals, search results and recommendations? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Table 19: Percentage of respondents who used price comparison websites to research a trip – breakdown of top 20 countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Table 20: Percentage of respondents who used price comparison websites to book a trip – breakdown of top 20 countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Table 21: Would the following incentivize you to join a travel company’s loyalty program? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Table 22: Does your hotel have a loyalty program? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Table 23: What kind of effect has this loyalty program had on demand? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

List of Tables



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1.1.2. Location, weather and price influence choice – but price usually wins

Moving out of the dreaming and research phase and into the point of choice between destinations and resorts, more practical factors come into play. The leading factors when choosing a holiday were:

■ The location of the hotel or airport – 48.08% strongly agreed; 83.91% responded positively overall

■ Available discounts – 46.08% strongly agreed; 83.59% responded positively overall

■ Weather conditions – 44.09% strongly agreed; 80.54% responded positively overall

Once the customer begins to actually choose a holiday destination, they are doing so with a clear vision in mind of the conditions they want to experience. However, they also stay price-sensitive, and this remains a potential opportunity to influence their decision-making process.

Research indicated that, while customers were certainly price-sensitive, this was rarely at the exclusion of other factors (see Figure 5). With the exception of nightlife (38%), under a quarter of respondents cited any of the other elements as less important than price. Trusted sources of information that can ratify customers’ choice remain important, although to a slightly lesser degree, with 78.43% agreeing or strongly agreeing that review scores are a relevant factor. Location, discounts and attractions also held as much or more sway as price for 88.64%, 87.58% and 84.16% of respondents respectively, with nearly half of respondents stated that these three factors were actually more important to them than price when choosing a holiday.

These results indicate that certain segments of the travelling population are highly price-sensitive at particular times. Expedia has found from examining its data that international travelers book further in advance and are the most likely to be price-sensitive. Within this group, American visitors give more notice to hoteliers, book longer stays and spend, on average, £25 more per night than the average international traveler. Elsewhere, Hotels.com’s Chinese Travel Monitor found that more than a quarter of Chinese travelers listed value for money as the top decision-maker.

If hospitality brands understand when the most price-sensitive customers shop through their own

historical data as well as via third-party information, they can deliver value at a particular point in the cycle, while avoiding a ‘race to the bottom’ scenario driven by bargain hunters that can damage hotel rates over long periods. For example, package deals, such as those where hotels also throw in car hire, were growing in popularity and were one way of adding value without cutting price (Hotel Industry Magazine, 2014).

1.2 BookingHaving discovered that, in the search phase, consumers primarily seek advice and information from friends and family before looking to third parties and brands, we also found that they are relatively price-sensitive but not at the exclusion of service and amenities.

Incorporating this insight, adding related proprietary knowledge and then applying the data to search strategies should see hotel brands increase relevancy across target segments.

1.2.1. Reminders are the key to cutting through the clutter

There are, of course, many different motivations behind travelling and customer behaviors and purchase journeys can therefore vary widely. However, some marketing strategies can work well across the spectrum.

Given that the average trip decision-making process takes in roughly 22 different touchpoints, retaining such a wealth of search information is difficult for the consumer. This is perhaps why respondents to the consumer survey noted that reminder activity and built-in alerts were particularly desirable.

Of the options provided in Figure 6, 81.45% stated that reminders showing when flights or hotels were about to sell out would be useful, or very useful. 77.92% also stated that an email alert when a previously looked-at holiday was falling in price would be of value.

Cutting through the clutter is a priority. Suggestions for related products and services were also rated ‘useful’ or ‘very useful’ by 75.53% of those surveyed and offers relevant to a customer location were rated the same by 80.54% of respondents. While suggestions are now standard ecommerce practice, retrieving searches remains a sticking point for hotel brands. Strategies to achieve this, along with the hurdles that still exist are discussed at greater length in Section 1.3.2.


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Figure 6: How useful would you find the following?

Source: EyeforTravel/WAYN Consumer Survey, October/November 2014; 3,586 respondents

Very useful Somewhat useful Not particularly useful Not useful at all

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Suggestions for an entire holiday based on a basic

theme or requirement

An email reminder for a previously looked at holiday if it falls in price

Offers relevant to your current location

Ability to create a wish list/travel itinerary for your trip

'Other people who bought this also bought' suggestions

Links to accommodation and flights for a destination shown

on a friend’s online profile

Items selected during shopping remain at the checkout

for the next visit

Previous searches are saved for your return to the site

Reminders showing when flights or hotels are about to sell out

Suggestions for related travel products and services

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To a lesser extent consumers are looking to make it easier to recall and bring up their options with 75.69% of respondents endorsing a stored wish list or itinerary. More than half (58.84%) were keen to see selected items stay in their basket to be revisited later and 73.21% wanted a way to pick up previous searches again.

1.2.2. Brand expectation over customer experience

In the multichannel environment, hospitality brands must recognize that consumer interactions are both cross-plat-form and cross-device. As described in Section 1.2.1., consumers seek to search and retrieve their criteria across social media and search engines, as well as through proprietary travel websites, OTAs and metasearch.

A fulfi lling, intuitive and fast customer experience is vital to a successful customer journey. Responsiveness has been the buzzword for multi-device strategy for at least two to three years now, although in a rush to ensure cross-device functionality, other elements of the online experience can be forgotten.

In the EyeforTravel/WAYN Consumer Survey, respond-ents identifi ed a number of negative elements that could prevent them from using a certain travel site. Most irritating were factors that interrupted the browsing experience, with pop ups (44%) and slow loading times (42%) topping the list (Figure 7).

table 5: how useful would you fi nd the following?

very usefulsomewhat

usefulnot particularly

usefulnot useful at all

Suggestions for related travel products and services

31.61% 43.92% 18.07% 6.40%

Reminders showing when fl ights or hotels are about to sell out

46.58% 34.87% 12.71% 5.84%

Previous searches are saved for your return to the site

29.00% 44.21% 18.59% 8.20%

Items selected during shopping remain at the checkout for the next visit

21.33% 37.51% 29.21% 11.95%

Links to accommodation and fl ights for a destination shown on a friend’s online profi le

26.69% 37.80% 25.35% 10.16%

‘Other people who bought this also bought’ suggestions

20.15% 38.28% 28.67% 12.89%

Ability to create a wish list/travel itinerary for your trip

35.12% 40.57% 17.74% 6.57%

Off ers relevant to your current location

38.75% 41.79% 13.92% 5.55%

An email reminder for a previ-ously looked at holiday if it falls in price

37.58% 40.34% 15.46% 6.63%

Suggestions for an entire holiday based on a basic theme or requirement

28.28% 41.55% 21.78% 8.38%

Source: EyeforTravel/WAYN Consumer Survey, October/November 2014; 3,613 respondents

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About EyeforTravel

EyeforTravel is a community where the world’s online travel brands – from hotels to airlines, online travel agents, cruise, car hire firms and more – come to meet.

Established in 1997, by Tim Gunstone, we offer a diverse product portfolio including industry analysis, insights, research, webinars, reports and conferences to suit the needs of our clients.

No other online travel intelligence provider has been around for as long as us. We were here at the inception of online travel and we know the industry inside out. What’s more, we’re a small, friendly team. Forget impersonal hierarchies, we like to get to know our customers and work towards their exact needs.

Interested in learning more about what we can do for you? Get in touch!

EyeforTravel Ltd, FC Business Intelligence, 7-9 Fashion Street, London - E1 6PX, United Kingdom


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