How many travelers book online

Based on your location, we recommend you check out this version of the page instead:. Mobile has changed the way people book travel. Part four of this six-part series on travel micro-moments dives into the let's-book-it moments that happen after travelers have done their research—and how travel marketers can capitalize on these key conversion moments.

You know what it's like as you get ready to hit "reserve" for that cruise, last-minute flight, or room at the resort. The destination ideas have been explored, the research has been done, and you're ready to book. In these let's-book-it moments, people are ready to put their dollars behind their decisions. And they often turn to search in these micro-moments. The consumer behavior in these moments is shaping travel industry trends at large, and even business travel trends.

Travel shoppers who are ready to book have typically narrowed their choices and may have decided on the location as well as the brand they want to book with. In these let's-book-it moments on mobile, it's not just searching that's happening. Travelers increasingly book on smartphones.

Online interactions are increasingly shaping how people make a plan for their next trip. New clickstream data from Luth Research's opt-in panel illustrating the pages a user visited, and in which order provides a snapshot of what a real traveler's time-to-make-a-plan moments actually looked like. By analyzing this traveler's searches, clicks, website visits, and video views while she was in planning mode for her upcoming travel, we can start to see exactly how and how much digital played a role in influencing her destinations.

Meet Kendra. Kendra is a single mother of three who travels for both business and pleasure. In a five-month period, she planned business trips to Amarillo and Kerrville, Texas, while also exploring vacation destinations in San Antonio, Whistler, and Puerto Rico.

And here's a real sample of one of Kendra's research paths in a let's-book-it moment that started with a search:. As much as mobile research and bookings have grown, the majority of travelers, especially those taking personal trips, still book on a desktop or laptop.

Ninety-four percent of leisure travelers switch between devices as they plan or book a trip. Why is this happening? Two reasons: the anxiety factor and the limitations of mobile booking sites and apps. Sixty-nine percent of leisure travelers worry that they're not finding the best price or making the best decision. People tend to double-check things in more detail on laptops or desktops. Nearly two-thirds of leisure travelers double-check prices on a computer after shopping for flights on a smartphone, and more than half make the switch to double-check hotel prices.

We decided to take a snapshot of how people book hotels today and asked people about their hotel booking behaviour and preferences. This confirms that hotels now can not survive without online bookings, and aggregator sites yield massive power.

Before booking, customers look for information about the hotels. How do they do it? What is important for travellers now when they book a hotel? Today more and more people strive for better comfort, service and facilities; good location and affordable price are not enough.

Others probably trust their own research. Hotel photos and reviews remain the most preferred content formats when looking for information about a hotel. This goes against the overall internet megatrend that video becomes the main content format online.

When people make their travel plans and study destinations and accommodation options, non-digital sources become increasingly unpopular. The most popular are online reviews and hotel photos.

Videos are in between, and we believe that their popularity will grow as video becomes the main content format online. This makes it clear that tourists chose Airbnb not only for the price, but for many other reasons, and this option increasingly competes with the hotels.

It is clear that Airbnb already has a sizeable segment of loyal followers who prefer it to staying in the hotels, and this segment will probably only grow. So what are the conclusions for the hoteliers? It is not a surprise that Airbnb is becoming more and more popular, although our finding that a quarter of tourists already tried them is striking.

Another alarm for hotels is that more than half of all bookings are now done through Booking. Revenue of Booking Holdings Revenue of Expedia Group, Inc. Airbnb revenue worldwide Tripadvisor's global revenue More interesting topics Related topics.

Digitalization of the travel industry. Impact of technology on travel and tourism. Tourism worldwide. Travel agency industry. Travel and tourism industry in the U. Go to report. Contact Get in touch with us. We are happy to help. Vianny Gutierrez-Cruz. Sales Manager — Contact United States. Ziyan Zhang. Customer Relations — Contact Asia. Kisara Mizuno. Customer Success Manager — Contact Asia.