Travel search Pulse - August 2023
In the first our monthly dives in to Google’s search data, digital Llama Mags Sikora teases out the trends that tell us how Brits were researching their travels during August.
Typically considered a calmer month, August 2023 actually saw a notable year-on-year (YoY) rise in search queries, driven to a large extent by those associated with last-minute holidays and city breaks - which rose by 50% and 22%, respectively. This escalating interest in shorter holidays, booked at short notice, hints at a shift in consumer preference, perhaps pinned to ongoing economic uncertainties at home, and climatic uncertainties overseas.
Growth in searches for ‘city break’ holidays is mirrored by significant rises in searches for ‘flights’ and ‘hotels’, escalating by 48% and an astonishing 83% YoY respectively - indicating that, despite widespread reporting of a swing back towards the use of package holidays and travel agents, there’s a significant portion of the travelling public who are still happy to book their holiday components separately.
Additionally, the spike in separate searches for flights and hotels resonates with a renewed interest in Google's travel products themselves. For instance, the search term ‘Google Flights’ soared by 48% YoY, re-establishing it as a pre-eminent term within the flight search category — ‘googleflight’ terms amassing 823k searches in August alone! This trend accentuates the critical role of digital platforms in accommodating evolving consumer travel behaviours.
Simultaneously, search terms related to popular low-cost airlines like ‘easyJet flights’ and ‘Ryanair flights’ rose by 22% YoY, cementing them as dominant airlines within the UK. On the flip side, searches for ‘BA flights’ remained stagnant YoY, reinforcing the sense that the airline has lost what was once an unassailable August market share.
Also during August - and perhaps also as a result of the disruption to travel caused by climatic events in Europe, as well as disruption to flights here in the UK - there was a remarkable surge in domestic hotel destination searches. Search queries for ‘London hotels’ and ‘Edinburgh hotels’ skyrocketed by 82% YoY in August, while those for hotels in Manchester, Liverpool, York, and Glasgow saw a substantial uptick of 49%. Numerous hotel brands witnessed extraordinary growth in brand-specific searches, soaring by over 600%.
When considered alongside the market data and industry insights shared in the last seven days at events hosted by both Travel Weekly and TTG, August’s search data reveals the travel behaviour of UK consumers is yet to fully re-establish its pre-pandemic rhythm. Indeed, whether it ever does so is a subject worthy of discussion, But in the meantime, a notable surge in searches for domestic hotels, low-cost flights and late deals, largely driven by economic and climatic uncertainties, underscores a pragmatic trend among UK consumers toward economical travel options. Travel marketers would do well to think about how they can capitalise on any short-term opportunities by messaging easy-to-book last-minute deals and flexible booking policies to entice travellers to take the final step from ‘dreaming’ to ‘booking’.
