Online Revealed

What’s the good news for Canadian travel marketers? Travel consumers are searching online more than ever to research and purchase travel, lodging and airline options.

The Canadian Tourism Commission recently featured an article in their Tourism Daily newsletter about online search behaviour. According to a recent survey for Yahoo! Canada, over 90 per cent of Canadian travel consumers use online resources to learn, explore and book travel. In fact, the survey found that Canadian travellers are more likely to use search engines when planning trips than consulting family or friends.

Survey Highlights:

• 40 per cent of Canadians use search engines more often than other sources to find information on lodging and daytime activities compared to six per cent who go offline
• Travellers are more likely to visit an airlines’ own web sites to purchase tickets (33 per cent) than to call an agency (10 per cent)
• Users of online resources take an average of three and a half trips per year, compared to only two for travellers using offline resource
• Canadians who use search engines and company web sites are more likely to complete an online purchase (59 per cent)

Maor Daniel, national marketing manager for search marketing at Yahoo! Canada suggests that one of the drivers for such high use of internet resources for travel research relates to consumers being empowered to make good choices on their own terms:

Travellers searching for deals and information online don’t feel pressured by salespeople or agents. The likelihood of purchasing trips or packages online is on the rise and users today arm themselves with information and make their own educated decisions on where they want to go for their next vacation.

Daniel also pointed out that user generated content (UGC) is changing the online travel industry. Today if a traveller searches a destination they are likely to find more than just web sites. Reviews, message boards, travel blogs and real-time photos allow users to find, share and engage in a dialogue with other travellers enriching their online experience.

Online search brings all of these elements in one place

Is your search marketing strategy positioning your organization to capture eyeballs of a growing legion of travel searchers?

Discover search engine strategies that work for your business at this year’s Online Revealed conference. Maor Daniel is the conference closing keynote speaker where he will be further exploring the survey results. This is a session you won’t want to miss!

[Conference Agenda]