Domestic tourism trends

Where Have All the Online Travelers Gone? (US trend)
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1006497&src=article1_newsltr
Extract: The number of travelers booking online is down. What's up?

This year US travel sales booked online will reach $105 billion, up 12% from 2007.
eMarketer forecasts that US online leisure and unmanaged business travel sales (including airline, hotel, rental car, vacation package, intercity rail and cruise) will reach $105 billion.

Furthermore, from 2007 to 2012, sales will increase at an 11.6% average annual rate.
Even though online travel sales are growing, fewer travelers are booking their trips online.
"The fact that fewer travelers are booking online is not due to economic concerns—online travel bookers are an affluent demographic—it is caused by frustrations related to the planning and booking capabilities of online travel agencies," says Jeff Grau, senior analyst at eMarketer and author of the new report, US Online Travel: Planning and Booking. "This, in turn, is spurring a renewed appreciation for the expertise and personalized services offered by traditional travel agents."

In other words, online travel sites are steering customers back to offline travel agents—a complete turnaround of what has been happening in the category for the last decade.
"Not so long ago industry observers cast traditional travel agents as has-beens," says Mr. Grau. "Perhaps this has helped them to focus on what they do best: provide travel expertise and personalized service."

Customer dissatisfaction with online travel agencies (OTAs) stems specifically from unfriendly booking engines and navigation tools.

With few points of differentiation, OTAs have a hard time building customer loyalty and have driven travelers right into the open arms of traditional travel agencies—and new online competitors.

"Mired in old technology, the OTAs have failed to keep pace with a newer and more innovative breed of travel Websites built around user-generated content," says Mr. Grau.

Online travel communities are emerging to carry the torch of innovation.

"In addition, a new breed of matchmaking travel sites is bringing traditional travel agency talent online," says Mr. Grau. "Sites like Zicasso and Tripology help travelers to exotic locales find travel agents tailored to their interests and needs."

Travelers Eye Prices Online (US trends)
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1006428&src=article8_newsltr
Extracts: More than four out of 10 US nonbusiness travelers surveyed expect to reduce the number of trips they will take in the coming year as a result of the economy, according to a June 2008 Destination Analysts' "The State of the American Traveler" survey. Nearly three out of 10 said they would spend less for their recreational trips in the next 12 months, nearly double the percentage that said so 12 months ago.

In the past 12 months, 23.6% of leisure travelers said they had taken a "staycation"—a vacation spent at home—in response to gasoline prices. Nearly three out of 10 said they planned to do so within the next 12 months.

"With more than half of travelers saying they will actively look for travel bargains and discounts and another third saying they will visit less expensive destinations, affordability is certain to be top-of-mind," said Erin Francis, managing partner at Destination Analysts, in a statement.

Several types of travel services were researched and purchased online by at least one-third of respondents, including destination information, hotel rooms and airline tickets. Only about one-fifth of recreational travelers went online for car rentals.

Fully 72.2% of Internet users in the US named the Web as their primary source for travel research in June 2008, according to a Prospectiv study.

The focus on value matters because price trumps brand in an economic downturn, according to a survey of consumers in the UK conducted by Loudhouse and RightNow.

Nearly eight out of 10 Internet users surveyed said that prices drove their purchase decisions during times of economic uncertainty. More than seven out of 10 also said that price and good online user experience were the second-highest-influencing factor on where to buy a product. Brand pedigree, product uniqueness and reputation were listed as least influential.

"Brands selling directly to the consumer be warned; as the credit crunch deepens and spending decreases, offering 'sweeteners' to consumers is only half the survival story," said Joe Brown, general manager at RightNow, in a Travolution article. "They won't tolerate corners being cut when it comes to customer service."

Although most travelers are getting budget-conscious, the luxury travel segment has yet to feel a slowdown, according to a July 2008 USA Today article.

The article cited D.K. Shifflet & Associates' claim that households earning $100,000 and more now account for about one-third of hotel stays.

"High-end is holding its own right now," Doug Shifflet, CEO of D.K. Shifflet, told USA Today. "But if the economy doesn't improve some, then it's going to start to see an additional slowdown."

The Deal with Online Travel Brands
http://www.brandchannel.com/start1.asp?fa_id=425
Extracts: In their quest for your jetsetting dollar, online booking agencies are hard at work at building their own brand equity instead of simply acting as a database-driven middleman who steer site visitors to third-party vendors.

Travelocity recently garnered the Innovator of the Year Award from the Travel Industry Association for its "ExperienceFinder" concept (still in beta). The online “dreaming and planning tool” allows the user to hand-pick their vacation based on location and theme, supplementing the decision-making process with insider tips, photos and videos, maps, and community discussions.

Priceline’s new personal "My Deals" travel widget operates on a similar principle, popping up on the Priceline.com main site with customized travel deals based on each customer’s trip plans and personal travel preferences. The benefit: The widget keeps working for you and searching for the best deals, even after you’ve logged off.

Innovations includes MyIdealBeach.com, the company’s new search tool that helps customers locate their perfect sand-and-surf site. “You can find the right beach for you based on three simple questions,” explains Russell. "The questions are geared toward who’s in your travel party, what activities float your boat, and hotel amenities you’re interested in."

And to combat the occasional complaint OTAs face of not having a living, breathing agent to offer their advice and tips, Orbitz has also rolled out its live destination specialists, experts in key travel markets such as Cancun and Hawaii. If you have any questions about certain markets as you’re planning your trip on the Orbitz site, it’s simple to hook up with one of these live specialists. “We’re bridging that gap [between live travel agents and online services],” says Russell.

Online travel services are also now pumping dollars into customer research and then using that data for targeted marketing in the form of novel site features, unique content, and handy tips the consumer can use to make intelligent travel decisions.

Priceline, for example, features useful alerts on its site designed to help the money-pinched traveler, from “How to Save Money on Summer Road Trips” to “The Best Days to Fly for Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Travelers.” Expedia puts out “Expedia Travel Trendwatch,” as well as its annual “Vacation Deprivation Survey,” which takes a look at the growing trend of American workers not using up their vacation days. The company’s reason for the survey? “Expedia.com believes that everyone deserves and needs a vacation,” and they’re there to make sure you get what you deserve.

Orbitz recently became the first online travel agency to recognize hotels that have received the EPA’s Energy Star seal of approval. In an attempt to appeal to consumer-electronics fanatics, Travelocity has introduced a new Web application that allows iPod touch and iPhone users to easily manage their Travelocity itineraries. Similarly, Priceline’s Mobi mobile service allows users with Web-enabled wireless devices to check flights and view restaurant ratings.

“We market in every channel we can offline,” explains Orbitz’s Russell. A new series of cheeky Orbitz TV ads centers around the Orbitz Traveler Wellness Center, with consistency across the ad platform in the form of the wellness center director.

Consumers are looking for an online presence they can trust, so Travelzoo tries to separate the legit deals from the scams and the “404 error—not found” pages. “We do the homework and save time; you don’t always know who to trust, and we will only publish deals we’ve checked out,” says Joyce. “We have deal experts called 'producers;' we’ll mystery-call to make sure [the booking experience] is user-friendly, and that the websites we send customers to are working.”

Like the OTAs, Travelzoo has also done studies and focus groups that have indicated travelers want more guidance about where to go. “We’re known for our Top 20 deals, but we’re adding content to our website as well,” says Joyce. “We’re adding destination pages, and we’ve started adding shows and events as well. We started out with Broadway and Vegas shows, and now we're broadening into other parts of the US and Canada.”

Annual global holiday survey shows Australians are more holiday deprived than ever - One in three say financial pressures have affected their holiday plans for 2008
http://media.expedia.com/media/content/expnz/images/temp/hd/Holiday-%20Deprivation-2008.pdf
Extract: Sydney, 10th June 2008: For the second year in a row, Australians have been revealed as the worst in the world among the countries surveyed in both 2007 and 2008 at taking all their entitled annual leave. Australians clearly need to take more holidays in light of the results of the Expedia, Inc. annual global Vacation Deprivation™ survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Expedia, the world’s leading online travel company.

This dismal track record also raises continued concerns among Australia psychologists about the mental and social impacts of holiday deprivation on the Australian population.Toughening economic times featured high on the list of reasons deterring Australians from taking all their leave, with more than a quarter (26%) of Australians citing financial pressures. Asked specifically whether the credit crunch and higher interest rates had affected their holiday plans for 2008, 32% responded in the affirmative.It appears that an addiction to work is another culprit deterring Australians from taking their full annual leave entitlement, with more than a third of respondents (34%) citing work commitments being too great to take a break.

In a further sign of Australians becoming workaholics, more than one in ten Australians (11%) said they felt guilty taking time off work for a holiday, while 7% feared for their job security if they took a break and 5% saying they suffered from ‘work anxiety’ when taking a holiday. Even when Australians took time off from work, almost two-thirds said they remained contactable with their work while on holiday (62%), with a whopping 57% being contactable by work or the office via their mobile phone, and 41% keeping an eye on their work emails while on holiday.

This year’s survey found that 38% of Australians do not take all of their allocated annual leave days, making them once again the worst among the same countries also surveyed in last year’s study (USA, UK, Spain, Germany, France and Australia) at taking all their holiday entitlements. To make matters worse, Australians also receive the second lowest amount of annual leave in the world (18 days) after the Americans, who receive a paltry 14 days. On average, Australians left around three days of their total annual leave entitlement on the table in the last year.

Currently 31% of Australians take holidays less than once a year and 13% take holidays less than every five years.

Changing consumer behaviour: Impact on the Australian domestic tourism market
http://www.tra.australia.com/content/documents/Consultancy%20series/Changing%20Consumer%20Behaviour%20Impact%20on%20the%20Domestic%20Tourism%20Market%20(final).pdf
This very detailed report integrates a wide range of recent qualitative and quantitative research and covers many topics including: