Holiday: Trends, Insights and
Opportunities
Gabe Ingalls
June 2011
Contents
Summary – Holidays
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The recession had opposite effects on the number of domestic and overseas holidays. The
volume of the latter fell 15% year on year in 2009, to 38.5 million trips. In the UK the number
of holidays rose (the ‘staycation’ trend).
In expenditure, increased polarisation took place, with overseas holidays ever-more the
preserve of better-off consumers.
In 2010, overseas holiday volume fell further and the appetite for staycations waned
somewhat. Fewer than 94 million holidays were taken overall.
Mintel’s exclusive consumer research reveals that over seven in ten people took some
holiday in the 12 months ended November 2010. They were significantly more likely to
choose an independent holiday over packages.
In 2010, just under one in two holidaymakers researched their holidays online.
Europe is still UK holidaymakers’ favourite overseas region. Spain and France top the
popularity rankings, with the latter having held up better during the recession (although the
volume of holidays did fall). ‘Far-near’ destinations – particularly Egypt and Turkey – have
bucked the recessionary trend.
Overall, two in five people now consider holidays a luxury; one in four say they are a
“necessary spend” or a “right”. Two in five people state that they would go on holiday less if
their financial situation worsened; twice the proportion that would instead cut back on other
things.
© 2010 Mintel International Group. All rights reserved. Confidential to Mintel.
Market Environment
Research
Issues in the Market: Holidays
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The recession had opposite effects on the number of domestic and overseas holidays. The
volume of the latter fell 15% year on year in 2009, to 38.5 million trips. In the UK the number
of holidays rose (the ‘staycation’ trend).
In 2010, overseas holiday volume fell further and the appetite for staycations waned
somewhat. Fewer than 94 million holidays were taken overall.
Mintel’s exclusive consumer research reveals that over seven in ten people took some
holiday in the 12 months ended November 2010. They were significantly more likely to
choose an independent holiday over packages.
In 2010, just under one in two holidaymakers researched their holidays online.
Europe is still UK holidaymakers’ favourite overseas region. Spain and France top the
popularity rankings, with the latter having held up better during the recession (although the
volume of holidays did fall). ‘Far-near’ destinations – particularly Egypt and Turkey – have
bucked the recessionary trend.
Overall, two in five people now consider holidays a luxury; one in four say they are a
“necessary spend” or a “right”. Two in five people state that they would go on holiday less if
their financial situation worsened; twice the proportion that would instead cut back on other
things.
© 2010 Mintel International Group. All rights reserved. Confidential to Mintel.
Consumer Trends
Search
Travel Hitwise Demographics
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The South-East, London and some of the
North-West have the highest % of Searchers
There is an even gender split in the
consumers in the is category
The 55+population make up a large
percentage of the searchers in the category
Source: Hitwise
Source: Hitwise
Source: Hitwise
Search
Travel Hitwise Demographic Mosaic and Social Grades
• Travel has the highest number of visitors in the A/B/C1
categories however indexes the best in the A/B category
• Suburban Mindsets, Liberal Opinions and Professional
Rewards make up the top 3 mosaic groups while the Alpha
Territory’s and Active Retirements over index
Source: Hitwise
Source: Hitwise
Advertising Climate
Media Spend
Travel advertisers tend to
spend the most on Press
advertising and Television
followed by the Direct Mail
On average the industry spent
around 9% on Internet
advertising (not including
search)
Source: NNR adDynanix : January – May 2011
Impressions and Audience by Publisher - AdMetrix
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While the top number of impressions goes to eBay and Yahoo!, MS Sites
have a larger number of Advertising Exposed Unique Visitors than any
other publisher
AOL has the highest average frequency, however many of these may be
wasted
MS offers a unique opportunity to Travel Advertisers to make the most of
their campaign by offering the largest reach of all publishers
Source: ComScore AdMetrix: April 2011
Top Advertisers by Impression AdMetrix
Source: ComScore AdMetrix: April 2011
The top 5 Advertisers make up 50% of the
travel destinations impressions
Search
Bing Search Traffic KPIs
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Overall, holiday KWs have grown 42% year on year for 2011
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While this took a dip in April, mostly in the 2nd half of the month as a result of Easter, the
Royal Wedding and Bank Holidays, the market has grown 31% for April year on year
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Good growth has been seen in both the generics and UK specific holiday markets (including
holiday rentals). There has also been a steady increase in search for train terms which might
explain the steeper and continued growth of the UK market.
1.
Microsoft Advertising Intelligence Tool
Search
Product and Location KW Traffic - Bing
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Camping holidays have shown stronger
growth in 2011 than caravanning holidays
(201% vs 73%)
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However both package holidays and SelfCatering have both seen similar increases this
year (6% vs 6% growth for 2011)
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Different destinations have seen different
amounts of growth
1. Microsoft Advertising Intelligence Tool ( Year on year and month on month for April)
Search
KW Traffic vs Exchange Rates
Expenditure once you reach a destination can also be a deciding factor when
choosing a destination. Consequently, keyword traffic to destinations can be
influenced by the exchange rates to those destinations as shown below.
Current Exchange
Rates
Australia – 1.5
United States – 1.6
Europe – 1.1
Search
Travel - Hitwise Category
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KWs are typically a combination 1 to 3 search terms
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While organic clicks provide most of the traffic, paid search has will continue to
grow in the coming months to represent a larger percentage of overall clicks
during the holiday peak times
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Paid clicks represent about almost a quarter of all clicks
Source: Hitwise
Source: Hitwise
Search
Holiday KW Demographics and Daily Trends: Bing
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31% more during the week than weekend
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There is a bias towards female searchers; traffic peaks in the 35-49 age brackets
1. Microsoft Advertising Intelligence Tool
Search
Travel Hitwise Demographics
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The South-East, London and some of the
North-West have the highest % of Searchers
There is an even gender split in the
consumers in the is category
The 55+population make up a large
percentage of the searchers in the category
Source: Hitwise
Source: Hitwise
Source: Hitwise
Search
Travel Hitwise Demographic Mosaic and Social Grades
• Travel has the highest number of visitors in the A/B/C1 categories
however indexes the best in the A/B category
• Suburban Mindsets, Liberal Opinions and Professional Rewards
make up the top 3 mosaic groups while the Alpha Territory’s and
Active Retirements over index
Source: Hitwise
Source: Hitwise
Microsoft Media Network Trends
Microsoft Media Network
Network Demographics
53% of the impressions occur between 18 and 34, while a larger proportion of
clicks occur in the higher age brackets, 25-54, than in impressions
Impressions and conversions peak in the 18-24 for females while the higher age
groups are more evenly split
55% of conversion occur between the 18-34 age bracket
Conversions for Travel usually entail a booking
Conversions are predominantly
females, particularly in the
lower age groups even though
clicks are more evenly
distributed throughout the
demographic range
Source: Microsoft Media Network : July 2010 – April 2011
Microsoft Media Network
Network: Day of the Week
For impressions and clicks there is an increase until Wed when it begins to decline to
a low point on Saturday. However as, conversions have a distinct peak on Friday and
Saturday, this suggests that the onset of the week is a influential period in the
decision making process
Source: Microsoft Media Network : July 2010 – April 2011
Microsoft Media Network
Network: Time of Day
There is a build of Impressions and Actions all day peaking late in the evening
There is an acceleration of the IMPs and Actions after 16.00 until 22.00
Prime targeting times
should be the post work
until end of evening
time (22.00)
Activity ramps up quickly
ate the end of the work
day continued until late
evening
Source: Microsoft Media Network : July 2010 – April2011
IMPs and actions fall
quickly after this period
Holiday Opportunities
Emerging Destinations
Because of many variables in the market place, there are many factors which influence destination choice. Exchange
rates, fuel prices and cost of living are all factors. On Bing, Eastern European countries have seen strong growth so far
in 2011.
Weekly Targeting
As seen from the data on the Microsoft Media Network, most of the action in ad views occurs during the middle of
the week while the conversions happen on Fridays and Saturdays
Search and Display – Better Together
Use both offerings to help boost your ROI moreover, use our display offering to help boost your brand campaign.
Particularly when we have seen good increases in traffic in the start of 2011
Weekly Targeting
Budget Holidays
to Traditional
European and
Eastern
European
Destinations
Search and
Display Better
Together