Expedia Group research reveals travellers spend 5 hours researching trips

It reveals the growing role of social media and advertising influence and the new online path to purchase

Expedia Group’s Path to Purchase research has revealed the travel content consumption habits of travellers as they seek inspiration and plan their trip, with UK travelers spending 303 minutes or over 5 hours on average with travel content in the 45 days prior to booking. 

The research, conducted by Expedia Group and Luth Research shedded light on traveller preferences and behaviours throughout the online shopping journey.

It revealed that travellers view 141 pages of travel content in the 45 days prior to booking a trip, and as high as 277 pages for travelers in the U.S., with these page views distributed throughout their path to purchase.

Travellers from the UK are inline with those from other countries and spend one month thinking about their trip during the initial inspiration phase and over a month researching and planning it. 

However, once they finalise their plans, the window from booking to the start of the trip is over three months, which is longer than the average 73 days. 

Of the top five resources for bookings, it found that 80% of consumers use OTAs to purchase trips, 61% use search engines, 58% use social media and 54% use airline websites.  Meanwhile, 51% of travellers also use meta travel websites. 

Four in five travellers visit an OTA at some point before making a travel purchase, even if they then book on another website.

This might be due to them looking for inspiration, as 62% of travelers from the UK were undecided on their destination and 59% considered multiple destinations when they first decided to take a trip.

It also highlighted that 86% of UK travellers use OTAs in their path to purchase, which is higher compared to the national average in other countries.

Significant numbers also said that they are influenced by what they consumed on social media and in advertising. 

Results found that 77% use social media for inspiration, with 22% of UK travellers said they use it for links and codes from influencers.

Holiday rental guests (26%) and hotel guests (22%) were also among those most likely to be influenced by advertising.

Cheryl Miller, SVP and CMO of Expedia for Business, said: “The traveler path to purchase is often complex, and full of twists and turns. 

“This research highlights just how much thought and consideration travelers put into planning a trip in the weeks leading up to booking, as they seek to niche and refine their choices. 

“This means there are many opportunities to connect with travelers before they make their decisions, underlining the importance of partnership, given that it’s essential to show up across multiple touchpoints and beyond your owned brand channels, as frequently as possible along this path. 

“By providing actionable insights to help reach, inspire, and engage travelers during their path to purchase, we’re pleased to provide B2B travel partners with the tools required to convert their guests and customers.”

You can read the full report here.