Executive Summaries - E-Travel Consumers: How They Plan and Buy Leisure Travel Online

E-travel Consumers

• Online leisure travel planners, or E-travel consumers, are likely to be quite savvy Internet users. Over half have been using the Internet for more than two years. Also, a majority of E-travel consumers are online at least 11 hours per week, with a full one third using the Internet 21 hours or more every week.

• Today, four in ten online travel planners are women. Half of online leisure travel planners are Baby Boomers between the ages of 35 and 54. About four in ten are under 35. Most online planners are college-educated, which may explain why a majority have annual household incomes of $50,000 or more. Given that one of every two online planners is a Baby Boomer, it is not surprising that 33 percent of them are married with children.

• Most of the travel planning consumers conduct online is for leisure trips such as vacations, visits to friends and relatives, or outdoor recreation trips. On average, these consumers take about 10 leisure trips per year. About two thirds of online travel planners take five or more leisure trips a year.

• It seems that the ability to access travel information online has reduced the need to use traditional, or "offline," methods of planning leisure trips. Most online leisure travel planners claim that since they began planning trips on the Internet, they use phone calls or personal visits to travel agencies, chambers of commerce, and tourism offices less often than they used to. In addition, many online travel planners are less often making direct calls to airlines, hotels, and rental car companies. Yet word-of-mouth information from friends, family, or co-workers is still being used as often or more often by online travel planners.

Importance and Performance of Travel Website Offerings

• In determining the relative importance of different travel website capabilities, consumers ranked several attributes highest: offering the ability to compare prices, providing opportunities to save money, offering the most up-to-date information, and offering a wide range of travel options. Other areas of importance to consumers are easy-to-find destination information and ability of travel websites to watch for deals or discounts while not online.

• On the same website functions, consumers rated the performance of the travel websites they generally use. For example, online planners think travel websites excel at offering an easy way to pay for travel. Online planners also think travel websites do a good job of offering the most up-to-date and easy-to-find information. Other functions travel websites perform well include providing opportunities to save money, offering a wide range of choices and options, and offering the ability to compare prices—all attributes deemed important by a large portion of E-travel consumers.

• There are a few areas in which travel websites may be falling short of meeting consumers' needs. Online planners do not think travel websites perform well at offering new ideas about places to go and things to do on trips. These consumers also perceive travel websites fall short at offering access to live customer service should they require it.

Heavy and Light Online Leisure Travel Planners

• Among frequent leisure travelers (5+ trips per year), most use the Internet for at least half of their trip planning. These "heavy online travel planners" make up four in ten of E-travel consumers. Those who take only a few leisure trips each year and/or do not go online to make at least half of their travel plans are considered "light online travel planners." Six in ten E-travel consumers are light online planners.

• Light online travel planners are more likely to be new to the Internet, meaning they have been online for two years or less. Most heavy online travel planners have been online for more than two years. Heavy online travel planners also spend slightly more time online in an average week (16.5 hours) compared to light online planners (15 hours).

• Compared to other travel websites, company websites (airlines, hotels, etc.), destination websites (states, cities, etc.), and online agencies (Expedia, Travelocity, etc.) are used most often among both heavy and light online travel planners. Yet, heavy online travel planners are particularly likely to use company websites, perhaps because heavy planners travel more and may be more apt to belong to company loyalty programs. Heavy planners are also much more likely than light online travel planners to use online travel agencies.

Online Leisure Travel Planners By Experience Planning Trips Online

• E-travel consumers have varying degrees of experience when it comes to using the Internet for travel planning. About three fourths of online travel planners are recent travel planners, meaning they began planning leisure travel online within just the past two years. One out of four online planners are experienced online travel planners who started planning leisure travel online more than two years ago.

• As expected, recent online travel planners are not as apt to do most of their trip planning online. For example, six in ten recent online planners do more than half of their planning online compared to nearly all experienced online planners.

• Travel guide websites are also more popular among experienced online planners, but are not as popular with recent online travel planners. On the other hand, recent planners are much more likely than experienced planners to use search engine websites. This may be because those with less experience planning travel online still rely on search engines for help and have not had enough experience to form loyalty to other travel websites.

Online Travel Planners By Gender

• While both men and women online planners travel quite frequently for pleasure, men take slightly more leisure trips per year. Men are also more likely than women to have traveled for business in the past year and are more likely to have traveled by air. On the other hand, men and women online planners are equally likely to have at least one hotel stay in the past year.

• Interestingly, men and women are about equal in the amount of travel planning they do online. For example, 67 percent of men and 65 percent of women online planners do half or more of their trip planning on the Internet. In their usage and opinions of travel websites, men and women travel planners differ slightly. Among both men and women, company websites and destination websites are the most popular for planning travel. Yet men more often use company websites and portal websites, but women more often use destination websites.

• Offering the ability to compare prices and providing opportunities to save money are highly important attributes to both men and women. Men online planners are more likely than women to think travel websites should offer a wide range of choices. Women are more likely than men to think websites should watch for deals or discounts when not online and that websites should have easy-to-find destination information.

• When it comes to booking travel, a larger share of men than women online travel planners have booked a travel service online in the past year. Men are slightly more likely to buy air tickets online, yet they are much more likely than women to book overnight lodging and rental cars. Consequently, men have higher average online travel spending than women ($2,481 vs. $1,638).

Online Travel Planners By Age

• Four in ten E-travel consumers are in Generations X and Y; half (50%) are Baby Boomers. Generations X and Y are more likely than those older to be experienced online travel planners who started using the Internet more than five years ago. Not surprisingly, Generations X and Y and Baby Boomer online travel planners are more apt than Matures to do at least half of their trip planning online.

• These three groups show few major differences in their usage and opinions of travel websites. Company websites and destination websites are still the most popular sites for all groups. However, Baby Boomers are the most apt to use company websites and Generations X and Y are least apt to use destination websites. Matures are more likely than Generations X and Y to rank as "1", "2", or "3" in importance the attribute "the destination information is easy to find."

• A majority in each age group purchased or booked a travel product or service online in the past year. Among them, there is little difference by age in the shares purchasing an airline ticket, overnight lodging, or a rental car. However, Generations X and Y are more apt than the two oldest generations to have purchased tickets for a museum, festival, or sporting event, etc. or tickets for an amusement park online. Baby Boomers spent the most online for travel in the past year, an average of $2,249, compared to $2086 by Matures and $2,028 by Generations X and Y.

Heavy and Light Online Leisure Travel Buyers

• Six in ten online leisure travel planners actually purchased travel online in the past year. "Heavy online leisure travel bookers" purchased/booked 50 percent or more of their travel online and also took five or more trips in the past year, accounting for 27 percent of all E-travel consumers. "Light online leisure travel bookers" purchased/booked less than 50 percent of their travel online and took less than five trips in the past year, making up 33 percent of all E-travel consumers.

• Heavy online travel buyers are more likely than light buyers to book travel on most types of websites. While company websites, online agencies, and web portals are the most popular for booking overall, more heavy buyers then light buyers use these sites. Although destination websites and search engine websites are not as popular for booking travel as for planning it, heavy and light buyers are more equal in their tendency to make reservations or purchases on these sites.

• When comparing heavy and light online travel buyers, it is not surprising that heavy buyers are more likely to buy almost all types of travel products. This is particularly true for car rentals (57% vs. 38%). The exception is amusement park tickets, for which both heavy and light travel buyers are equally likely to purchase online (19% vs. 18%). On average, heavy online travel bookers have spent over twice as much online in the past year as light online bookers ($3,120 vs. $1,349).

• Nearly half of heavy online travel buyers are in Generations X or Y (age 18-34 years old). This compares to only one third of light online bookers, who are more likely to be Baby Boomers (35-54). Because they are younger, heavy online bookers are less likely to have children. While all online travel bookers are well-educated, heavy bookers are more likely than light online bookers to have a college education. Heavy online travel buyers have slightly higher average annual household incomes than light online travel buyers.

Characteristics of Recent Trips Planned Online

• Leisure trips planned online are most likely to be for entertainment or to visit friends or relatives. Just fourteen percent of trips are for outdoor recreation. More than half of trips planned online include a car or truck or rental car as the primary mode of transportation. Four in ten trips include air transportation. Very few online trips involve travel by camper/RV, bus, or train.

• One-third of E-travel consumers make "last-minute" trip plans by going online within two weeks of the trip. One in four trips are planned online one month to less than three months before the trip. Also, seven in ten trips planned online typically involve destinations outside the home state. So, when it comes to choosing a destination, about half of E-travelers make the destination decision less than one month before their most recent trip. Indeed, three in ten E-travelers make a "last-minute" destination choice within two weeks of the trip. This suggests the reason why many E-travel consumers think it is important for websites to have up-to-date information.

• Consumers seek out several types of website content when planning trips online. E-travelers most often obtain maps and/or driving directions and search for lodging options and availability. Many online planners search for destination-specific content such as things to do at the destination, information on dining and entertainment, or information about local events. About one in five online planners are using the web to help them choose a destination in the first place.

• Half of recent trips planned online include an online reservation or purchase related to the trip. Among these trips, more than half include overnight lodging reservations (55%) and/or booking a flight (54%). Three in ten trips planned online included a rental car reservation.

Order a copy of the E-Travel Consumers: How They Plan and Buy Leisure Travel Online.