Two trends in cruising: finding what others think and looking for discount prices.
Hitwise reported that the share of US internet searches for ‘cruise reviews’ was up 219% for the week ending 15 April compared to two weeks prior.
At the same time, the share of searches for ‘discount cruises” was up 143%.
Cruise Critic, the leading site with user generated cruise reviews, increased its market share by 17% for the week ending 15 April, according to Hitwise.
“The cruises category is highly competitive, with 26.8% of all visits to travel cruise sites going to another cruise site for the week ending April 15,” Hitwise said in a release.
“Travelers are increasingly relying on the opinions of others to aid in planning their travels,” said Bill Tancer, general manager, global research, Hitwise.
Hitwise is a leading online competitive intelligence service which monitors how more than 25 million internet users interact with 160,000 Web sites.
Report by David Wilkening
