Last April, 35 million US consumers used a search engine to initiate travel planning, spending an estimated $6.6 billion.
Said James Lamberti, vice president of ComScore Search Marketing Solutions:
“We’ve long known that the Web is an invaluable resource for travel planning, and now we’re further quantified the impact of search engines in driving travel bookings.”
ComScore says its two-month study showed nearly one-third of the 35 million users purchased a travel-related service either online or offline within the course of the study.
“The discovery that 20% of these buyers ultimately completed a travel purchase offline underscores the influence of online research across all buying channels,” the company says.
A significant portion of the impact of Web search on travel buying occurred in sessions following the initial search engine referral, ComScore concluded.
“This research proves that Web search marketing is much more than a direct response vehicle,” said T.S. Kelly, vice president and director of research.
Report by David Wilkening
