A new study shows most travellers Down Under do their holiday research on mobile phones, but book trips further afield on a desktop.
US travel data analyst Sojern teamed up with Google to create a report on the habits of travellers in Australia and New Zealand, using data from 350 million traveller profiles.
It took an in-depth view of how local, regional and international travellers search for, compare and book travel.
The report showed 56 per cent of in-region Google travel queries for Australia and New Zealand coming from mobile phones, indicating mobile-first searches when planning travel.
The mobile-first trend also applies to international travellers planning trips to this region, with 43 per cent of travellers from outside the Asia-pacific region searching for trips using a mobile device.
But while tourists are more likely to book on their mobile phones for Antipodean travel, they switch to a desktop when booking a trip that is further away in either distance or time.
Travel searches peak on Mondays and Tuesdays across all devices and are lowest during the weekend.
The report said: “The importance of a mobile strategy for marketers in this region cannot be overstated.
“With mobile searches on the rise – despite increased complexity – implementing a multichannel strategy that engages travellers on all devices at every stage of the path to purchase is key for travel marketers.”
The data also showed that while air travel and hotels dominate, holiday rentals and cruise queries for in-region travel are growing.
Consumer brand loyalty looks to be waning as generic queries are outgrowing branded ones. Travellers may be searching for more generic terms or turning to the home-sharing market to try and find the best deals while browsing on line.
Chris Greenwood, Sojern’s regional sales director, said. “Whether you are an airline, a big international hotel or a tour operator, you need to understand the differences between travellers looking to visit Australia and New Zealand and how to reach them as they dream, plan, and book their trips.”
AccomNews is not affiliated with any government agency, body or political party. We are an independently owned, family-operated magazine.
