Sources: MarketingProfs & Travel Pulse
With summer approaching, travelers are on the prowl for a relaxing getaway. Although the season is rapidly approaching, there's still time for your travel brand to reach, influence, and engage summer travelers. In order to pull this off, it's important to do your research. Produce the right content and receive the best results by asking "What are our consumers searching online lately?" and "Where do they plan on going in the near future?" Keep reading for the latest travel-related google search trends and the top destinations U.S. travelers are interested in for summer 2017.
What are Tourism Consumers Searching Online?
According to MarketingProfs, U.S. consumers now use mobile more than desktop computers to search online for information related to family vacations, luxury travel, and couples travel. This information is based on a report consisting of internal U.S. Google search data from January 2014 to January 2017, as well as data from a survey of U.S. online consumers. It's no secret that mobile is taking over. The real question here isn't how they're searching, but rather what consumers are searching for in terms of travel-related trends.
Family Travel
Recent research from Google tells us that family travel is currently a very popular travel-related search. This year, more travelers want to bring their families along for vacation. Searches for family vacations, luxury travel, and couples travel and honeymoons grew 3X faster year-on-year than searches in the adventure travel and ecotourism categories. Specifically, searches related to family vacations have shown the strongest growth year-on-year.
Current Search Trends for Family Vacations:
- Best vacations for kids under 10
- Inexpensive family vacations
- Baby-friendly vacations
- Family trip ideas
- Family vacation ideas with toddlers
Couples Travel and Honeymoons
The analysis from Google also reports that more and more consumers are searching information about couples travel and honeymoon destinations, indicating that more U.S. travelers are looking to spend money on romantic getaways this season.
Current Search Trends for Couples Travel and Honeymoons:
- Honeymoon cruises for couples
- Affordable honeymoon destinations in U.S.
- Places to go for anniversary weekend
- Inexpensive romantic getaways in Georgia
- Inexpensive weekend getaways Texas
Inexpensive Travel Options
Within the couples travel/honeymoon trend as well as the family travel trend, consumers seem to be looking for deals. Finding inexpensive travel is a top concern for the 2017 U.S. traveler, using popular keywords such as "affordable" and "inexpensive" when searching for travel options.
Where are U.S. Travelers Planning on Going?
According to TravelPulse, research from AAA reports that 42% of Americans had planned to take a vacation in 2017, and most summer travelers are looking to head somewhere warm. Based on AAA bookings, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic is the top international destination this year. The most popular domestic destination for 2017 is Orlando, Florida. U.S. national parks are also predicted to remain popular among vacationers.
Although Florida and Punta Cana are the top destinations for this year, the destinations receiving the biggest increase in interest are Melbourne and Sydney, Australia; Toronto and Vancouver, Canada and Cancun, Mexico. Also, according to AAA, there's also been an increase in tour bookings that allow visitors to interact with locals and experience new cultures, and millennials are more likely to consider a river cruise than any other age group.
There's Still Time
According to Google, 6/10 people considering a summer trip were already conducting research in February, however, 46% had not decided on their destination. That's where your brand comes in. There's still time to market to this year's summer travelers. Now that the current travel trends of 2017 are clear, you'll know exactly what they want and what to sell in order to close the deal.
Sources: "Travel-Related Google Search Trends" - MarketingProfs & "Where Will Americans Vacation in 2017" -Travel Pulse
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