Searching For The Trends
Expedia Group Media Solutions has released its Q3 2021 Travel Recovery Trend Report which combines Expedia Group first-party data and custom research with actionable insights to help travel marketers on their continued road to recovery.
Jennifer Andre, global vice president, media solutions, observes that: “While the travel industry experienced ups and downs throughout Q3, we continued to see positive trends and overall progress on the road to recovery.”
Andre continued: “The rise in business travel demand and double-digit year-over-year increases in holiday season travel searches are just two of the trends that signal growing traveler confidence and industry improvements. These insights, along with others in the Travel Recovery Trend Report, will help travel brands on their path to rebuilding.”
Following a strong Q2, global search volumes remained consistent during Q3, with nominal change quarter-over-quarter.
EMEA and LATAM saw the strongest quarter-over-quarter change from Q2, with increases of 50% and 10% respectively, while APAC and NORAM saw modest decreases, which could be attributed to travel restrictions and the rise of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in July and August.
However, searches globally began to rise again in September, and when compared to Q3 2020 global search volumes, Q3 2021 delivered triple-digit growth year-over-year.
The report notes that the week of September 13 saw the largest increase in week-over-week global searches – up more than 5% – following border reopening announcements and travel easements across several regions.
In APAC, the reopening of Singapore, and Australia’s trial vaccine passport program with select countries, resulted in a 10% increase in searches during the same week.
During the week of September 20, searches from EMEA to the United States increased 95% week-over-week, after the White House announced it would soon lift travel restrictions on international visitors who are vaccinated.
In Q3, nearly 70% of global searches fell within the 0- to 30-day search window, a 15% increase quarter-over-quarter.
Global searches in the 31- to 90-day search window dropped slightly from 25% in Q2 to 20% in Q3.
This shift in search windows indicates that travellers are reverting to planning trips for the near future, compared to the lengthening search windows reported in Q2 2021.
EMEA saw the largest lift for the 0- to 30-day search window, up more than 30% quarter-over-quarter, while NORAM and APAC were largely flat for the same search window quarter-over-quarter.
For the full report, click here.
