‘Over 40% of travel website visits come via search engines’

More than 40% of visits to travel industry websites come via search engines and directories, according to latest data.

Research by Hitwise reveals growing maturity of the online travel sector, with only 20% of people using a single word in their search, 30% using two words, 25% using three words and a further quarter using four or more words.

Within the top 100 most successful travel search terms, 60% were brand specific, 20% were generic and 20% were specific destinations.

No-frills airlines continue to dominate the travel online arena, with ‘easyjet’ and ‘ryanair’ being the top two most successful travel search terms, followed by ‘cheap flights’ in third place.

Hitwise says within the 10 most successful search terms, five were brand specific and five were general product searches.

More than half of visitors to travel websites were female, and the predominant age range is 35-44 (24%), according to the research. About a third of travel website visitors live in London and the South East.

Hitwise also found an increasing trend towards movement between travel websites with 33% of visits coming from other travel-related site.

“This highlights the fierce competition within the industry as consumers search for the best deals online,” according to Hitwise.

Visits by UK users to travel websites grew to almost 5% market share for the first time in August, with nearly one in 20 visits going to a travel site. This fell to 4.4% in September.

Hitwise saw a 33% uplift in visits to travel sites between April and August last year – this rise was repeated in the same period this year with growth of 34%.

Hitwise UK general manager Simon Chamberlain said: “Travel companies are amongst the heaviest and most sophisticated users of search marketing. In that environment it is no coincidence that customers using search engines to find travel websites are exhibiting signs of maturity in their search behaviour.

“With more than 40% of visitors to travel sites coming directly from search engines, new Hitwise data has shown that 50% of people use more than three words in their search query, compared with a mere 20% using simple one-word searches such as ‘flights’ and ‘hotels’.”

*Simon Chamberlain is among a panel of top speakers confirmed for the next TravelMole Fast Conference discussing the subject ‘Maximising Your Internet Presence to Increase Sales’. The event is on November 16 in London. For details, a list of speakers and to register go to www.travelmole.com/fastconferences or call 020 7691 3292. The price is £99 for delegates, reduced to £59 for tour operators and agents, and £49 for students.