91% of travelers use search engines to find accommodation, 81% use Google

Guest feedback platform TrustYou has published the results of recent consumer research into how online travelers search for and book accommodations.

Interesting findings:

• 91% use search engines to find places to stay, with 81% preferring Google.
• 77% search by keywords relating to accommodation or location:
  • 57% for hotels
  • 49% for locations
  • 31% for a combination of the two
• Top drivers of hotel booking decisions:
  1. Nightly rate
  2. "Trust score" (average review rating score)
     • 88% eliminate hotels with trust score <3.
     • 32% eliminate hotels with trust score <4.
• Following Google search, travelers are most likely (20%) to click a direct link to the hotel's Web site. (But 80% click something else.)
• Top 3 booking channels reported:
  1. Expedia
  2. Hotels.com
  3. Travelocity
• 93% of respondents said they have used hotel booking engines, 84% have used meta-search engines.
• Preferred booking device:
  • Desktop 66%
  • Mobile 18%
  • Tablet 16%

Demographics of the respondents:

• All said they had made at least 1 online leisure booking.
• Top booking selections:
  • Hotels 86%
  • Motels 34%
  • Resorts 34%
• 65% female, 35% male
• 25-34 and 35-44 age groups predominated (approximately 50% combined share)
• Average household income $70K

Implications of results, as identified by TrustYou:

• Hoteliers need to pay attention to their findability on Google, in order to draw more lookers and bookers to their hotel Web site.
• Travelers are strongly influenced by hotel reviews, including those on Google, which are provided in part by TrustYou.

It takes work and money to get a hotel Web site to page one of Google search returns, even for searches on the property name. But it's worth it.

Go here for more on how Google Ads and SEO will up your tourism game.