New research on the behaviors of digital travelers

Travel commerce platform provider Travelport has published the results of a Global Traveler Survey of 11,000 people whom they asked about their use of digital devices for planning, booking and experiencing trips.

Key findings:

Planning:

• 81% read peer reviews
• 47% use voice search
• But fewer than 1 in 4 people aged 55+ use a smartphone for trip planning

Booking:

• More than a third book via mobile device

At the destination:

• 44% use their smartphone, and 60% say they would be lost without it
• But 43% prefer to switch off when traveling
• 75% post reviews on review sites

Home countries of most digitally advanced travelers (top 3):

• India
• China
• Indonesia

Home countries of least digitally advanced travelers (bottom 3):

• UK
• Japan
• Germany

How can we act on these findings?

• Get good reviews.
• Target primarily younger (or at least <55) people with mobile advertising.
• Have a website that works well in mobile devices.
• If your business is something like a restaurant or a retail establishment that people only start looking for only after reaching the destination, market locally with mobile-friendly ads and location extensions, and in the languages used by visitors as well as the local language.
• If you get a lot of visitors from Asia, get visible in Baidu and other Asian search engines, and make it easy for visitors to use the payment solutions with which they're familiar.