Eyefor travel social media&mobile travel distribution report

Social Media and Mobile in Travel
Distribution Report: Online strategies,
consumer and industry trends, 2013
Strategic insights on how mobile and social media have impacted the
optimal marketing mix to drive direct bookings, meeting future consumer
needs and increasing conversions

Report highlights include:
Disruptive industry trends
Analysis on growing industry trends that will impact your revenue models
and marketing strategies.

Consumer trends
Consumer research data to inform your future marketing focus and
ensure your investments reflect the needs of your target customer.

Online strategies
Market data and case studies to help you provide the ideal marketing mix.
For more information, visit www.eyefortravel.com/social-media-mobile-travel-report

industry overview

Industry overview
There is a compelling business case for all companies within the travel sector to be actively engaging
consumers across the mobile and social media channels. Mobile as a search, research, and purchase channel
in travel has grown year-on-year. Currently 20% of all transactions occur in the mobile channel. One leading
travel company interviewed for this report stated that its mobile revenue for the month of January 2013 was
$40 million, compared with $2 million in sales in the whole of 2009 – a 2000% or twenty-fold increase.
Travel executives interviewed for this report agree that global online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Expedia
and Bookings.com have been at the vanguard in the integration of mobile and social media into their
distribution strategies. This report demonstrates many of the learnings that can be derived from their
activities.
This report also looks at the innovations being driven by market disruptors such as Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
accommodation, mobile-only OTAs, the growth of metasearch and case-by-case innovation from established
suppliers.
Crucially, this report focuses heavily on the consumer’s influence in this process. Travel executives interviewed
for this report agree that a presence in mobile and social media is vital, not because of the cost efficiencies
these channels can deliver, nor the wealth of consumer data – although these are clearly important. Travel
brands must be proactive in the mobile and social media channels because, increasingly, this is where the
consumer chooses to interact.
The travel industry is undergoing great disruption, brought about by technological innovations and shifting
consumer demands. The potential for technology, primarily mobile and social media, to increase distribution
is relatively untapped. Similarly, the full impact of mobile and social media on the consumer research and
booking funnels is yet to be determined. This EyeforTravel report provides strategic insight into social media
and mobile’s impact on Travel Distribution now and in the future.

Leading companies who provided expert insight

eyefortravel.com/social-media-mobile-travel-report

Social Media and Mobile in Travel Distribution Report 2013

| 2

key reasons

Key reasons to purchase this research
Immediate access to in-depth customer insights: this report brings together booking patterns and behaviour of over 20,000
global travel customers who are active on social media, delivering actionable, data driven insights into the factors affecting your customer’s purchasing decisions.
Travel industry specific case studies: a look at social and mobile engagement strategies from Hard Rock Café, HotelTonight, American Airlines, Facebook and MGM Resorts on their lessons learnt from social and mobile engagement
Planning, measuring and executing social media campaigns: gain industry insight from over 35 travel executives including TUI,
IHG, Virgin Atlantic, Malaysia Airlines, LATAM airlines, CheapFlights, Hotels.com, Ostrovok.ru, LastMinute and Best Western.

Who needs this report
eCommerce-focused travel executives must read this report to understand about the impact of new disruptive revenue models
and conversion strategies.
Mobile or distribution-focused travel executives must read this report to understand how leading companies are allocating
budget and growing direct distribution share.
Marketing, mobile & social media focused travel executives - focused travel executives must read this report to understand
how social, mobile and digital strategies are profitably being utilised to meet the needs of a changing consumer audience.

Peer reviews
“A comprehensive state-of-the-nation assessment of how two of the most talked about innovations in technology of the past three to
five years are impacting the behavior of consumers and suppliers of travel products globally. Tantalizing food for thought.”
Andrew Pyner, Chief Revenue Officer, Ostrovok.ru
“Mobile and social media have been the most exciting developments in the travel industry for the past few years, and although almost
all companies have now jumped on the bandwagon, following guests and clients, we aren’t necessarily all on the same rails. This
report gives a clear overview of how different actors use mobile and social, as well as the latest innovations in both fields, in a solid,
figures-driven, and truly informative way. This is one of the most useful papers I’ve read on the topic for a long time.”
Remi Lefevre, Global Social Marketing, Upscale & Luxury Brands, Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG)
“The report asks the right questions, and it gives great strategic guidance in the fast moving areas of social, local and mobile in travel”
William Beckler, Departing Head of Innovation at Lastminute,com, Founder of AllTheRooms.com
“I am delighted to recommend this important and valuable paper on Social and Mobile developments and future opportunities within
the travel industry. It is the wide-ranging depth of research and expert comment that adds real credibility to the document. And,
through this insight, we have already been able to utilise the paper to enhance our strategic thinking”.
Richard Lewis, CEO at Interchange & Consort Hotels, Best Western Hotels



| 3

nTS
co ntents

Contents
Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Industry reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Thought leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
About EyeforTravel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Index of figures and tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Executive summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1

2

3

Industry overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1 How social media and mobile is growing travel distribution
1.2 Travel consumer demography . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.1 Invisible Travelers . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.2 Tiger Travelers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.3 Grey Nomads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.4 Leisure vs. business travel consumers . . . . . .
1.2.5 Religious travelers . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3 Technological developments . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.4 Travel supplier innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.5 Travel intermediary innovation . . . . . . . . . . .

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

20
. 20
. 21
. 21
. 21
. 22
. 23
. 23
. 23
. 25
. 26

Mobile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1 Mobile travel consumers: who are they?. . . . . .
2.2 Mobile trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3
Mobile’s impact on the search and research process .
2.3.1 Mobile-specific content optimization . . . .
2.3.2 Apps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.3 The Google effect . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.4 Adapting mobile to web search norms . . .
2.4 Mobile’s impact on the booking process . . . . .
2.4.1 Last minute – the mobile booking heartland .
2.4.2 Mobile as a payment engine . . . . . . .
2.5 Mobile’s impact on business models and strategies .
2.5.1 Mobile for ancillary revenue . . . . . . .
2.5.2 Mobile price sensitivity . . . . . . . . .
2.5.3 Recouping the cost of mobile investment . .
2.6 Mobile case studies . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.6.1 Case study: Hard Rock Café . . . . . . . .
2.6.2 Case study: Saudi Arabia . . . . . . . . .

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

27
. 27
. 28
. 29
. 30
. 31
. 32
. 32
. 37
. 37
. 37
. 38
. 39
. 39
. 39
. 40
. 40
. 41

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Social media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.1 Social media trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.2 Social media consumers: who are they? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Social Media and Mobile in Travel diSTribuTion reporT


| 8


| 4

nTS
co ntents

3.3

Targeting social media users . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
3.4.1 Social media as a search engine . . . . . . . . .
3.4.2 Social media as a research tool . . . . . . . . .
Social media’s impact on the booking process . . . . . .
Mobile-enabled social media’s impact on the travel consumer
3.6.1 Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.6.2 Purchase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.6.3 Customer service . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Social media’s impact on business models and strategies . .
3.7.1 Understanding social media content . . . . . . .
Social media case studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.8.1 Case study: Airbnb . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.8.2 Case study: Facebook and MGM resorts . . . . . .
3.8.3 Case study: American Airlines . . . . . . . . . .

3.4 Social media’s
Contents impact on the search and research process .
3.5
3.6

3.7
3.8

4

5

6

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Managing the multichannel – integrating social and mobile . . . . . .
4.1 Intermediaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2 Suppliers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3 Mobile advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.4 Improving mobile search relevancy . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5 Mobile social media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5.1 Preparing to integrate mobile and social media . . . . . .
4.5.2 Integrating social media and mobile across the marketing mix
4.7 Case study: HotelTonight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Consumer research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.1 Global overview: most active geographical markets
5.2 Consumer spending on travel . . . . . . . .
5.3 Channel choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.4 Native language . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.5 Developed markets vs. growth markets . . . . .

.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.

Industry learnings . . . . . . . . . .
6.1 Future market drivers and trends . .
6.1.1 Rate parity
6.2 Market opportunities and sizes . . .
6.3 Marketers’ spending response in 2014
6.3.1 Intermediaries. . . . . . .
6.3.2 Suppliers. . . . . . . . .
6.4 What innovation is likely? . . . . .
6.4.1 Payment innovation . . . .
6.4.2 Search innovation . . . . .
6.4.3 Reviews innovation. . . . .

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. 45
. 46
. 46
. 47
. 48
. 48
. 49
. 49
. 49
. 49
. 50
. 51
. 51
. 51
. 52

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

54
. 54
. 54
. 55
. 56
. 56
. 56
. 57
. 58

. .
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

. .
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

. 59
. 59
. 59
. 60
. 61
. 62

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

. 66
. 66
. 66
. 67
. 67
. 68
. 68
. 69

Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Executive surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Consumer research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Secondary research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
References

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106


| 9


| 5

eS
list of figures and tables

Index of Figures
Figure 1:

Five stages of travel consideration

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Figure 2:

Consumer travel spend growth, 2012-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Figure 3:

Number of users and utilization ratio of online shopping in China, 2011-12 . . . . . . . . . 21

Figure 4:

Average transaction sizes among selected retail and travel sites in India, 2012. . . . . . . . 21

Figure 5:

Social media use in China, 2013

Figure 6:

Mobile subscribers and penetration across Asia, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Figure 7:

Age distribution of respondents to EyeforTravel Consumer Survey, June 2013 . . . . . . . . 23

Figure 8:

Across developed markets, smartphones reach 21% of 55+; tablets reach 11% of 55+ . . . . . 23

Figure 9:

Active social media usage on the top five services is growing fastest among older age groups . 24

Figure 10:

How consumers access the internet (globally, May 2013) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Figure 11:

The number of suppliers and intermediaries agreeing that mobile generates little ROI down, 2011
and 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Figure 12:

Intermediaries and suppliers see a strong shift towards mobile generating direct bookings,
2011-2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Figure 13:

Intermediaries and suppliers find mobile is improving engagement with customers, 2011-2013 32

Figure 14:

Intermediaries and suppliers slowly beginning to increase investment in mobile, 2011-2013 . . 33

Figure 15:

Intermediaries and suppliers planning to increase investment in mobile in the next three months
2011-2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Figure 16:

Booking volumes via website have dropped, 2011-2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Figure 17:

Comparison of intermediary and supplier booking volumes via call centers, 2011-2013 . . . . 35

Figure 18:

Comparison of booking volumes via mobile between intermediaries and suppliers, 2011-2013 . 35

Figure 20:

Importance of mobile for sales, suppliers vs. intermediaries, 2011-2013 . . . . . . . . . . 36

Figure 21:

Importance of mobile for marketing, suppliers vs. intermediaries, 2011-2013 . . . . . . . . 36

Figure 22:

Importance of mobile for customer service, suppliers vs. intermediaries, 2011-2013 . . . . . 37

Figure 23:

Importance of mobile for operations, suppliers vs. intermediaries, 2011-2013 . . . . . . . . 37

Figure 24:

Importance of mobile for information, suppliers vs. intermediaries, 2011-2013 . . . . . . . 38

Figure 25:

Intermediary use of apps and/or optimized mobile sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Figure 26:

Supplier use of apps and/or optimized mobile sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Figure 27:

Results of Google search for Channings Hotel, Edinburgh on desktop . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Figure 28:

Results for Google search for Channings Hotel, Edinburgh on mobile . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Figure 29:

Google search for Hotel Missoni, Edinburgh on desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Figure 30:

Google search of Hotel Missoni, Edinburgh on mobile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Figure 31:

How a hotel might finance its mobile-optimized site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Figure 32:

Five generating markets by country of residence and mode of transport . . . . . . . . . . 51

Figure 33:

Growth in supplier social media profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Figure 34:

Intermediary social media profiles

Figure 35:

Social media still has to prove its worth financially to suppliers and intermediaries, 2011-2013 . 54

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Figure 36:

Social media has generated us direct bookings, 2011-2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Figure 37:

Suppliers and intermediaries agree social media improves customer engagement, 2011-2013 . 55

Figure 38:

We have increased our investment in social media in the last 3 months, 2011-2013 . . . . . . 55


| 10


| 6

eS list of figures and tables

Figure 39:

We will be increasing our investment in social media over the next 3 months, 2011-2013 . . . 56

Figure 40:

Demographic breakdown of top five global social media networks, 2013. . . . . . . . . . 56

Figure 41:

Average engagement with social media networking by region, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Figure 42:

Social media penetration by region, February 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Figure 43:

Which of the following is most likely to encourage you to join or follow a travel provider’s social
media network? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Figure 44:

Using social media as a marketing tool, June 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Figure 45:

How consumers use social media to research their destination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Figure 46:

Consumers’ use of social media to organize group travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Figure 47:

Consumers’ propensity to share travel experiences via social media . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Figure 48:

Impact of social media on sales in the last 3 months, June 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Figure 49:

Keep updated on announcements and deals from travel companies . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Figure 50:

Social media is not a significant contributor to operations, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Figure 51:

Social media’s importance for distributing information, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Figure 52:

Likelihood of customers to complain via social media, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Figure 53:

Likelihood of consumers using social media to make enquiries of a travel provider before and
during stay, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Figure 54:

YouTube’s global user profile and affinity rating, 5 April 2013 - 4 May 2013 . . . . . . . . . 68

Figure 55:

Social media’s use as a customer service channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Figure 56:

Evaluation of reach for American Airlines’ crisis management social campaign, April 2013 . . . 71

Figure 57:

Top 10 outbound travel markets, 2003-2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Figure 58:

Top 10 inbound travel markets, 2003-2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Figure 59:

How would you rate the experience of using a mobile to access travel sites? BRIC, June 2013 . . 84

Figure 60:

How much would consumers spend using a mobile? Europe 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Figure 61:

How much would BRIC consumers spend using a mobile? June, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Figure 62:

Percentage of population using mobile phones, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Figure 63:

Feature phone vs. smartphone penetration, India, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Figure 64:

Feature phone vs. Smartphone penetration, China, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Figure 65:

Supplier: What regions are you responsible for targeting?

Figure 66:

Supplier: What best describes your company sector? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Figure 67:

Supplier: How many employees does your company have globally?. . . . . . . . . . . . 98

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Figure 68:

Intermediary: What regions are you responsible for targeting? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Figure 69:

Intermediary: Which of the following best describes your company sector? . . . . . . . . . 99

Figure 70:

Intermediary: How many employees does your company have globally? . . . . . . . . . 100

Figure 71:

Intermediary: What percentage of your total bookings (volume) is distributed via online channels? 100

Figure 72:

How old are you? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Figure 73:

What is your gender?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Figure 74:

What is your household income? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Figure 75:

How many people are in your household? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102


| 11


| 7

S
list of figures and tables

List of tables
Table 1:

What do you use to research your travel arrangements? Globally, June 2013 . . . . . . . . 30

Table 2:

Considering the marketing channels below, please choose ONE which you’d highlight as the most
influential to your bookings over the last 3 months?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Table 3:

What website do you use to book your vacation travel? Globally, June 2013

Table 4:

Devices and websites customers are most likely to use to make a last-minute booking . . . . 46

. . . . . . . . 43

Table 5:

Inbound tourist trips by purpose of visit and quarter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Table 6:

How likely would you be to use Facebook? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Table 7:

Comparison of marketing spend per channel by intermediaries, 2012-2014. . . . . . . . . 73

Table 8:

Comparison of marketing spend per channel by suppliers, 2012-2014 . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Table 9:

Vacation travel spend over the past 12 months, June 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Table 10:

How much have you spent on travel in the last 12 months, Brazil, June 2013 . . . . . . . . 80

Table 11:

How much have you spent on travel in the last 12 months, Russia, June 2013 . . . . . . . . 81

Table 12:

How much have you spent on travel in the last 12 months, India, June 2013 . . . . . . . . 81

Table 13:

How much have you spent on travel in the last 12 months, China, June 2013 . . . . . . . . 81

Table 14:

Expected travel spend in 2014, globally, June 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Table 15:

How much have you spent on vacation travel arrangements in the last 12 months? (Air) . . . . 82

Table 16:

How much have you spent on vacation travel arrangements in the last 12 months? (Hotels) . . 82

Table 17:

Do you use any of the following to access the internet? Middle East, June 2013 . . . . . . . 83

Table 18:

Where do you begin researching your travel: Vacation Packages, Middle East, June 2013. . . . 84

Table 19:

Percentage of population using smartphone vs. feature phone vs. multimedia phone. . . . . 88

Table 20:

Popular mobile activity, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Table 21:

Popular mobile technology applications, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Table 22:

Do you use social networks to research travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Table 23:

Do you use social networks to share photos and videos of your trip? . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Table 24:

Do you use social networks to complain? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Table 25:

Projections for growth in Travel and Tourism’s contribution to GDP, 2013-2023. . . . . . . . 93

Table 26:

Age breakdown of travel respondents to EyeforTravel consumer survey, June 2013 . . . . . 101



| 12


| 8

MO BILE 1
ch apter

This complimentary extract, below, is directly taken from Section 2.1 of the report.
The section gives you an insight into who mobile consumers are and their changing digital habits.

2.1 Mobile travel consumers: who are they?
With mobile penetration exceeding 100% in most developed
markets and developing nations rapidly following suit (We Are
Social, 2012), every travel consumer also has the potential to be a
mobile travel consumer.

This figure leaps to nearly half in the last-minute segment, clearly
demonstrating that mobile booking is a major factor when considering travel options one week or less before the travel date.
“From the booking time curve… seen in desktop bookings, the
mobile channel is not simply shifting those bookings. Mobile
traffic is pure incremental growth in the last-minute window,”
explains Lastminute’s Beckler.

■■ 41% of travelers prefer to research travel on desktop
■■ 37.3% use a mobile device (smartphone or laptop)
■■ Confidence in transacting via mobile is low at a little
over 10%, but slowly gaining popularity

EyeforTravel’s latest consumer survey revealed that 37.3% of consumers worldwide accessed the internet on their smartphone.
Desktop, however, remains the dominant means of initially
researching travel. An average of 10.4% of those surveyed began
their research on a smartphone, while an average of 16.1% used
a tablet. This is 30.6% and 24.9% fewer than those using desktop;
an average of 41% of travelers prefer to research through this
channel.
Interestingly, more consumers prefer to speak to an offline travel
agent (although they may also have a web presence) than are
comfortable using smartphone. This is not because they cannot
access the technology – survey respondents are members of
WAYN: a global travel and lifestyle social media network.

Figure 11: The number of Suppliers and Intermediaries who agree that mobile generates little ROI has fallen
between 2011 and 2013
60
 Mobile has generated us very little or zero ROI intermediary
 Mobile has generated us very little or zero ROI supplier
50

Percentage

40

30

20

February 2011

September 2011

June 2012

Agree Strongly

Agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Disagree

Disagree Strongly

Agree Strongly

Agree


Disagree

Disagree Strongly

Agree Strongly

Agree


Disagree

Disagree Strongly

Agree Strongly

Agree


Disagree

0

Disagree Strongly

10

R EPORT EXTRACT

Consumers are using the mobile channel to access travel across
all points in the purchase journey. It is increasing in search,
research and booking. The proportion of travelers using mobile
to book generally is growing year-on-year, but overall remains
around a quarter of the whole.

According to EyeforTravel’s 2013 consumer survey:

June 2013

Source: EyeforTravel Intermediary & Supplier barometers 2011- 2013; “Below are a number of statements regarding attitudes towards Mobile, please read each
one and indicate to what extent you agree or disagree.”



| 9

MO BILE 1
ch apter

Table 1: What do you use to research your travel arrangements? Globally, June 2013
Smartphone

Desktop

Travel Agent

None

Vacation Package

14.2%

10.9%

44.9%

14.2%

16%

Air

13.8%

10.3%

44.9%

14.5%

13.3%

Cruise

17.4%

8.9%

35.7%

10.1%

28%

Hotel

14.2%

10.7%

49.3%

10.6%

15.3%

Non-Hotel

18.2%

10.1%

37.6%

6.6%

27.6%

Car Rental

16.9%

10.7%

37.5%

9.3%

25.6%

Train

17.3%

10.6%

38.9%

8%

25.1%

Bus

17.2%

11.1%

36%

9.3%

26.4%

Source: consumer research in association with WAYN, May 2013. 15,170 respondents

The research shows that, despite a third of consumers using
mobile devices to access the internet and a smaller but significant proportion being happy to use these platforms to research
travel, willingness to book on mobile dips to a mean of 10.8% on
a tablet and 7.5% on a smartphone Those willing to book travel
on a desktop computer holds steady at an average of 41.1%.
This experience is echoed by Nigel Pocklington, CMO, Hotels.
com: “We have 15 million app downloads and a mobile-optimized site that encourages customers to download the app. But
we’re not seeing a lot of mobile payments. On the web, it will be
interesting to see the progress of alternative payments which are
on the increase, particularly in Germany, but I believe it’s too soon
for mobile payments.”
However, in the last-minute booking window (between one
week before and on the day of travel) the trend shifts dramatically. According to the EyeforTravel survey, an average of 55.3% of
consumers would be most likely to make a last-minute booking
one week before travel on a desktop while 23.8% would never
do so.

2.2 Mobile trends
Travel consumers are increasingly booking travel on their mobile.
63% more travel suppliers saw an increase in mobile booking volumes in 2013 over 2011, while 36.7% fewer executives reported
no booking volumes in the channel. Conversely, the number of
executives seeing no booking volume via desktop web doubled
between 2011 and 2013, and progressively fewer executives have
seen volumes of desktop web increase.

ing executive preferences over the last three years, there is a clear
move towards the belief that mobile generates ROI (see Figure 8).
They also attest to a strong shift towards the channel generating
direct revenue (Figure 9) and as a result are beginning to increase
investment in mobile. This increase has been cautious, however,
and executives are likely to continue to remain prudent into 2014
(Figure 11).
The hesitancy to increase investment in mobile could be due to:
1. Economic factors affecting budgets overall
2. Inadequate proof of the channel’s effectiveness
3. Mobile remaining a relatively small proportion of revenue
overall
The clear impression given by executives’ responses to the EyeforTravel barometers is that mobile is increasing in importance. It
can be expected that, regardless of financial input, executives will
expect to see more returns from this channel in future.
Booking volumes have influenced the way travel suppliers feel
about the mobile channel. As can be seen from Figure 13, below,
over the last 28 months there has been a move away from
considering mobile as not important for sales (38% of suppliers
in 2011) to important (33.3% in 2013). The number of executives
considering it very important to sales has almost doubled in this
period (from 4% in 2011 to 7.9% in 2013).

R EPORT EXTRACT

Tablet

Mobile’s impact on rate of return (ROI) has grown, according to
EyeforTravel’s travel supplier and intermediary barometers. Trackeyefortravel.com/social-media-mobile-travel-report


| 10

MO
BILE

Figure 12: Mobile has generated us direct bookings (Intermediaries and Suppliers), 2011-2013
50
 Moble has generated us direct bookings Intermediary
 Mobile has generated us direct bookings Supplier

30

20

February 2011

September 2011

June 2012

Agree Strongly

Agree


Disagree

Disagree Strongly

Agree Strongly

Agree


Disagree

Disagree Strongly

Agree Strongly

Agree


Disagree

Disagree Strongly

Agree Strongly

Agree


Disagree

0

Disagree Strongly

10

June 2013

Source: EyeforTravel Intermediary & Supplier barometers 2011- 2013; “Below are a number of statements regarding attitudes towards Mobile, please read each
one and indicate to what extent you agree or disagree.”

Figure 13: Mobile has improved our engagement with consumers (Intermediaries and Suppliers), 2011-2013
50
 Mobile has improved our engagement with consumers Intermediary
 Mobile has improved our engagement with consumers Supplier

Percentage

40

30

20

February 2011

September 2011

June 2012

Agree Strongly

Agree


Disagree

Disagree Strongly

Agree Strongly

Agree


Disagree

Disagree Strongly

Agree Strongly

Agree


Disagree

Disagree Strongly

Agree Strongly

Agree


Disagree

0

Disagree Strongly

10

R EPORT EXTRACT

Percentage

40

June 2013

Source: EyeforTravel Supplier and intermediary barometers 2011- 2013; “Below are a number of statements regarding attitudes towards Mobile, please read
each one and indicate to what extent you agree or disagree.”



| 11

MO
BILE

“The speed of mobile’s evolution has been shocking,” admits
Regional E-commerce Manager at Novotel North America, Jeremie Catez. “But it’s not surprising. It’s multi-device behavior and
mobile is supporting our distribution strategy. Will we even still
be using desktops in five years?”

The Social Media and Mobile report has more in depth analysis and case studies including the likely innovation in payments, search and research to help you with your future business strategies.
Call Steve Johnson today for more information and details on Single and Multi User Licences – +44 20 7422 4344


R EPORT EXTRACT

In developing markets, the growth in mobile use is directly linked
to initiatives encouraging mobile ownership. “The governments
in Latin America have realized that part of development is to
provide the middle class with access to the internet and better
phone plans. This is happening at the same time as flying to
South America is getting cheaper as a rule. [These are] two economic factors impacting our business. We had not diverted much
investment towards mobile up to now, but next year we will
have to improve our platforms,” reveals Felipe Rey Forero, Digital
Marketing Manager, North America, LATAM Airlines.


| 12

M ETHODOLOGY

Methodology

EyeforTravel conducted 35 in-depth interviews with travel executives from across the globe including both developed and developing nations and covering traditional, online and multichannel
businesses.
The report represents these executives’ experiences of incorporating mobile and social media into their businesses, features
elements of their own research into the area, and combines these
findings with EyeforTravel’s own current and historical industry
barometers.
EyeforTravel’s ongoing barometer research, begun in 2011, provides unique trends insight allowing the report to not only cover
past events but combine data with executives’ learnings to make
definitive statements about trends the industry expects to see in
the next 12-24 months.

Executive research
Interviews were supported by findings from EyeforTravel primary
research in the form of two exclusive executive surveys across
both travel suppliers and intermediaries. The supplier survey
consisted of 390 respondents, spread geographically, which was
conducted in May 2013
The figures and tables below provide a breakdown of the survey
respondents. It shows that suppliers interviewed had reasonable worldwide coverage with the lowest concentration in Latin
America, Africa and the Middle East. Between a quarter and a
half of all their booking volumes were distributed through online
channels and hotel suppliers were by far the most active in the
survey.

Figure 65: Supplier: What regions are you responsible for targeting?

Global 32.4%

West Europe 41.5%

Middle East 10.9%

Australia/New Zealand 15.5%

East Europe 25.1%

Africa 7.3%
Latin America 11.4%
North America 28.5%
Source: EyeforTravel Supplier barometer, June 2013; What regions are you responsible for targeting? 386 respondents



| 13

M ETHODOLOGY

Figure 66: Supplier: What best describes your company sector?
Airline 12.1%
Other 20.3%

Rail 1.3%
Other transport 0.8%
Car hire 2.3%

Cruise 1%

Tour operator 9.5%

Non-hotel accommodation 4.4%
Hotel 48.5%
Source: EyeforTravel Supplier barometer, June 2013; What best describes your company sector? 390 respondents

Figure 67: Supplier: How many employees does your company have globally?
1-5 10.6%
6-10 5.2%
11-20 5.7%
500+ 40.3%
21-30 5.2%
31-40 2.3%
41-50 4.1%
51-100 8.8%
401-500 3.4%
301-400 2.8%
201-300 4.4%

101-200 7.2%

Source: EyeforTravel Supplier barometer, June 2013; How many employees does your company have globally? 387 respondents

In the second survey, 401 intermediaries responded. Again, the
figures and tables below show that unlike suppliers, nearly a third
of intermediaries operated almost exclusively through online channels, playing a much larger part overall. Understandably, the majority of respondents (45.4%) stated that their company focus was
global.The diffuse nature of the intermediary market is noted by
the large number of respondents stating their business was ‘other’
(37.2%), beyond the main categories of OTA tour operator etc



| 14

M ETHODOLOGY

Figure 68: Intermediary: What regions are you responsible for targeting?

West Europe 36.4%
Global 45.4%

East Europe 19%
Middle East 13.7%

Australia/New Zealand 14.5%
Africa 12%
Latin America 15.2%

North America 30.9%

Source: EyeforTravel Intermediary barometer, June 2013; What regions are you responsible for targeting? 401 respondents

Figure 69: Intermediary: Which of the following best describes your company sector?

Online Travel Agent (OTA) 19.1%

Other 37.2%
Metasearch site 4.7%
Group buying site 1.7%

Other online intermediary 11.9%

Destination management
company/tourism board 8.4%

Tour operator 10.9%

Source: EyeforTravel Intermediary barometer, June 2013; Which of the following best describes your company sector? 403 respondents



| 15

M ETHODOLOGY

Figure 70: Intermediary: How many employees does your company have globally?
500+
22.6%

1-5
24.9%

401-500 2.5%
301-400 0.5%
201-300 2.5%

6-10
10.4%

101-200
10%
51-100
7.2%

11-20
7.2%
41-50
3.5%

31-40
4.7%

21-30
4%

Source: EyeforTravel Intermediary barometer, June 2013; How many employees does your company have globally? 402 respondents

Figure 71: Intermediary: What percentage of your total bookings (volume) is distributed via online channels?
1-5 11.8%
6-10 4.4%
91-100 32.8%
11-20 6.6%

21-30 8.1%

31-40 7%
81-90 8.1%
71-80 4.1%
61-70 5.5%

41-50 6.3%
51-60 5.2%

Source: EyeforTravel Intermediary barometer, June 2013; What percentage of your total bookings (volume) is distributed via online channels? 271 respondents

Consumer research
Between May 2013 and June 2013, EyeforTravel conducted one
of its most wide-ranging consumer surveys yet, covering more
than 22,000 respondents. Because these respondents were
sourced through the ‘Where Are You Now?’ (WAYN) travel social
media network, they were self-selecting for appropriateness according to technological awareness and usage.


Respondents represented the full variety of travel consumers,
incorporating a full demographic spread in terms of age and
geography (see Tables 34-37). The majority of respondents came
from relatively mature age segments, the greatest volumes seen
in categories from 35 onwards. Predominantly make, the majority
(49.8%) earned less than £20,000, surprising given the older age
ranges.


| 16

M ETHODOLOGY

Figure 73: What is your gender?

Figure 72: How old are you?
65+
4.8%

18-24
3.2%

55-64
16.1%

Female
17.4%
25-34
21%

45-54
26.9%

Male
82.6%

35-44
28%

Source: EyeforTravel consumer research in association with WAYN, May 2013;
“What is your gender?” 15,187 respondents

“How old are you?” 15,187 respondents

It was noted that, when examining Middle Eastern consumers’
slightly higher propensity to travel and spend more while doing
so, this was due to greater social mobility. It can be seen from a
breakdown of this segment’s individual household income that it is
indeed slightly higher than the average of the worldwide sample.

Figure 75: How many people are in your household?
More than 5
12.2%

1
17.2%

5
13.0%

Secondary research
This report has been supported by secondary research, where
appropriate. This included canvassing attendees at EyeforTravel’s
annual European Travel Distribution Conference which took place
in London on 23 and 24 May 2013.
We have included additional statistics from regulatory associations and travel bodies on industry growth projections, as well
as critical ‘state of the nation’ mobile, social media and internet
statistics from monitoring companies to give an accurate account
of the growth of this sector.

2
18.5%

4
20.1%
3
19.0%
“How many people are in your household” 15,186 respondents

Figure 74: What is your household income?
More than $150,000 3.6%
$100,000-$149,999 3.9%
$80,000-$99,999 4.6%
$60,000-$79,999 7.8%

$40,000-$59,000 12.4%

Less than $29,999 49.8%

$30,000-$39,999 18.0%
Source: EyeforTravel consumer research in association with WAYN, May 2013: ”What is your household income?” 15,187 respondents



| 17

About

About EyeforTravel
EyeforTravel Ltd is a leading global media company specializing in business intelligence for the travel and tourism industry. Since 1997,
it has produced world-leading conferences and business intelligence for senior executives in the online travel industry. EyeforTravel is a
key information portal for the travel industry that caters to the needs and interests of all online travel industry executives.

Previous reports
■■ Social Media and Mobile Strategies for
the Travel Industry 2011 (Reviewed
February 2012):

■■ Travel Consumer Report, 2012-13
As your consumers moves to the mobile web, get the
essential consumer and travel market insights you need
to respond to key trends in consumer purchasing behavior and understand how to engage with consumers
and sell travel products through multiple devices.

Where should you invest your valuable time and
resources for maximum return?
For travel executives trying to understand ROI potential
for social media and mobile campaigns. The report
provides a focused and unparalleled insight through
interviews, case studies and research into the successful trends in the world of Social Media and Mobile.

Over 8,400 travel customers surveyed from the USA,
the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands on business critical information such as frequency of travel,
spend, purchasing behavior customer attitudes and
usage of social media and mobile.
Over 15 leading travel and hospitality brands critique
their e-commerce strategies and models, highlighting
lessons learnt and future priorities.

Order your report in less than 60 seconds
Just fill in this form and access the
information and analysis you need to
develop your knowledge of Social Media
& Mobile Strategies

Payment details:

■■
■■
■■
■■

Expiry date:

Pages: 111
Release Date: July 23, 2013
Launch Price: £ 1095/Eur 1275/USD1680
Full Price: £1295/Eur 1500/USD 1985

Name (as it appears on card):
Card Number:
Type of card:
Security Code:

First name:
Last name:
Company:

Launch Price Expires: 30th September 2013

Four ways to order:
www.eyefortravel.com/social-media-mobiletravel-report
Scan and email this form back to:
reports@eyefortravel.com
Or fax: +44 (0) 207 375 7676
UK: +44 (0) 207 422 4344
US: +1 800 814 3459 Ext.4344

Telephone:
Email:
Address:

City:
Zip/Postcode:
Report Name:

Quantity:

Order your copy today at: www.eyefortravel.com/social-media-mobile-travel-report


| 18

Eyefor travel social media&mobile travel distribution report

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Mehr von David Mora

Mehr von David Mora (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Eyefor travel social media&mobile travel distribution report