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Travel firms ‘miss out’ by slow reaction to events
Travel companies are missing out by failing to react to popular world events such as football finals.
Research by online competitive intelligence company Hitwise shows that travel firms are missing out by not recognising the significance of events.
Senior research analyst Heather Hopkins said: “Travel companies need to be in-tune with offline events affecting the popularity of destinations. The recent football events are one example of offline events driving popularity of destinations.
“Seaches for flights to Rome surged in the days leading to the Pope’s death, seaches for theme parks peak around bank holidays and flights and hotels in Edinburgh continue to be popular as the G8 Summit draws nearer.”
Hitwise analysis of the Champions League and FA Cup finals demonstates how travel companies are failing to optimise to or bid on relevant terms in a timely enough manner.
Internet searches on “flights to Istanbul” ahead of the Champions League final in the Turkish city peaked in the week ending May 7, two and a half weeks before the match. This was the week in which Liverpool beat Chelsea in the semi-final, when Liverpool fans would have then gone online to search for flights.
Searches on “hotels in Cardiff” peaked in the week of May 21, the same week as the FA Cup Final in the Welsh capital, indicating that supporters left it until the week of the match to find accommodation.
Websites who benefited from this last minute surge in demand were not dominated by leading hotel chains but local websites, according to Hitwise.
“This indicates that the major chains were slow to optimize to or bid on this particular search items,” Hitwise said.
Report by Phil Davies
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