To help you understand changing demand patterns and changing traveler behaviors, our quarterly Traveler Insights examines first-party traveler search and booking data from Expedia Group. OUR Third quarter 2023 data reported that traveler confidence remained high as they continued to travel for events and planned short- and long-term trips.
Looking at Q4 2023 data, travelers are showing strong interest in several international destinations, including various cities in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Additionally, fans from around the world plan to travel to Paris this year to cheer on their favorite athletes and explore the city. With this final round-up of data, let's look at how you can apply these findings to your marketing strategies to reach and engage travelers.
Connect with travelers who book early
In Q4 2023, we noticed travelers planning their trips further in advance, which presents unique opportunities for you to interact with them. Looking at quarterly search patterns, the 180+ day window saw the largest quarter-over-quarter (QOQ) increase – over 15% globally and almost 20% for national searches – as travelers began planning their trip mid-year. . This growth over the 180+ day search window is driven by an increase of over 70% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and a 10% increase in North America (NORAM).
How to act on this trend
You can get in front of travelers who are looking for and book early as they plan mid-year trips and end-of-year trips. Using Sponsored Ads TravelAds increases your property's visibility in search results, helping you inspire and connect with potential guests as they plan and compare options. Additionally, our precise targeting capabilities can help you target travelers based on our proprietary first-party data to drive demand when you need it.
We know our travelers are highly motivated – this is supported by the results of GWI's January 2024 Zeitgeist study, which is part of our quarterly insights. The study showed that 85% of recent Expedia travelers plan to take more or the same number of leisure trips in 2024, compared to 67% of consumers overall.* Let's look at our travel intentions data to see what destinations are in fashion.
Event travel and tourist tourism are on the rise…
In anticipation of summer in the northern hemisphere, travelers have their sights set on Paris. In Q4 2023, future searches for July and August to Paris increased by more than 20%. Research into desired length of stay for travel between July 26 and August 11, 2024 showed that expected length of stay increased for visitors in all regions, driven by a nearly 25% increase in a year-over-year (YOY) among travelers planning to visit NORAM and Latin America (LATAM). This expected increase in length of stay indicates that visitors intend to stay in Paris for an extended period of time, providing local businesses, including hotels, with the opportunity to introduce themselves to travelers as they plan their trip in the City of Lights.
Our Unpack ‘24 report revealed that in 2023 a new level of live music tourism has been reached. Now, Expedia Group predicts a “tourist tourism” again in 2024. Nearly 70% of travelers surveyed say they are more likely than ever to go to a concert outside of their hometown.**
How to act on this trend
Benefit native advertising can help your hospitality business stand out from the competition and increase your visibility with travelers by using targeted advertising that is both contextually relevant and non-disruptive. Including Mobile Marketing As part of your advertising strategy, you can deliver your content to travelers who are searching and booking on their phones. For destinations, we can also work with you to optimize your content marketing strategy and create compelling content to ensure it reaches and resonates with your ideal traveler.
APAC Cities Show Significant Search Increases
After an initial slower recovery from the pandemic, we have seen a significant increase in interest in APAC in recent quarters. In Q4 2023, several APAC cities saw strong growth in global search volume year-on-year, with Guangzhou increasing by 85% and Hong Kong and Shanghai by 35%.
We also saw strong global interest in APAC from all four superregions, with a notable increase in year-over-year search volume growth in APAC cities. EMEA travelers drove a 70% and 50% increase in searches for Osaka and Kyoto, respectively. Latin American travelers also showed interest in Japan, driving an 85% increase in searches to Tokyo, while APAC travelers drove a double-digit increase in searches year-over-year in several cities Chinese, including Shenzhen and Macau. NORAM travelers also showed a notable increase in search volume year-over-year to Guangzhou (65%), Kyoto (55%), and Osaka (50%). Understanding travelers' growing interest in different locations can help inform your advertising, and our targeting capabilities can help you engage with and convert these travelers.
How to act on this trend
For hotels with properties in APAC, combine TravelAds Sponsored Ads with advertisment display can ensure your brand remains top of mind among travelers researching and planning their next trip to the region. By use both solutions in tandemYour ads will appear across multiple pages of the site, helping your brand reach travelers at every stage of their purchasing journey while building brand awareness and increasing your chances of conversion.
Warm-weather destinations are growing in popularity
Looking at the most searched destinations in Q4 2023, we found that as temperatures dropped across the Northern Hemisphere, travelers were opting for warm-weather getaways. Sunny destinations like Orlando, Miami and Punta Cana have climbed the rankings of the most sought-after global destinations. Cancun and Fort Lauderdale also climbed the rankings of most searched destinations for NORAM, and Buenos Aires climbed to 5th for LATAM.
We also saw this influx to warm weather destinations in country trend data. US travelers looking for tropical destinations increased during the fourth quarter – with a triple-digit increase in the QOQ of searches from the US to St. Lucia, Aruba and Curacao. Results from the GWI Zeitgeist study also supported this trend as 46% of those who recently visited Expedia said they were planning a beach or water vacation this year.
Advertising without third-party cookies
Navigating the changing landscape of advertising in a world without cookies poses unique challenges for destination marketers looking to reach and engage potential travelers. As third-party cookies are phased out of web browsers, destination marketers will need to find new ways to target and track users across different websites and devices. However, by partnering with us, you will gain access to our proprietary first-party data as well as our fine-tuned targeting capabilities to help inform your marketing strategies. At Media Solutions, we are uniquely positioned to help our partners succeed in a world without third-party cookies and execute insight-driven campaigns with precision to drive maximum impact.
We're excited to help you connect with travelers booking further in advance and looking for specific destinations. With over 20 years of experience helping travel brands successfully execute their travel marketing strategies, we can help you reach your ideal traveler wherever they are in their travel planning. To start, Contact us Today. »
*GWI Zeitgeist Study January 2024
**Unbox ‘24, Expedia Group, 2024
About Expedia Group Media Solutions
Expedia Group Media Solutions is a global travel advertising platform that connects marketers with hundreds of millions of travelers across more than 200 Expedia Group websites and apps. Our proprietary first-party data on traveler trends, search behavior and booking data provides travel advertisers and marketers with unique insights to inform their strategies. We offer a comprehensive suite of solutions to help our partners connect and convert travelers around the world. Our digital experts have over 20 years of experience in travel and media to help our partners create advertising campaigns that deliver meaningful results.
