Inside This Issuesolutions.sojern.com/rs/264-GMU-510/images/GTI2018Issue3_Sojern_071918_Final.pdfThe World Cup isn’t the only thing that happened in Europe lately; a lot of travelers

Issue 3 • 2018

G L O B A L T R A V E L

InsightsInside This Issue

Profiles of the heaviest travel planners for this quarter

Regions focused on solo travel searches vs group travel searches

Key takeaways to help boost your travel marketing efforts

Table of Contents 3. Global Travel Trends

4. North America Travel Trends

9. Latin America Travel Trends

14. Europe Travel Trends

19. Middle East and Africa Travel Trends

24. Asia-PacificTravelTrends

29. Glossary and Methodology

With more than a decade of expertise analyzing the complete traveler path to purchase, Sojern drives travelers from dream to destination. The company recently celebrated delivering $13B in direct bookings for its clients by activating branding and performance advertising on the Sojern Traveler Platform.

Each quarter, Sojern analyzes travel behavior in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific to reveal shifting consumer preferences and offer insights to help marketers drive bookings and build brand loyalty with ever-increasing precision.

Interested in working with Sojern to reach, engage, and convert travel audiences? Connect with us today.

GLOBAL TRAVEL INSIGHTS: ISSUE 3, 2018 2 WWW.SOJERN.COM / CONTACT US

https://www.sojern.com/contact/?utm_medium=ebook&utm_source=mktg&utm_campaign=2018_i3_gti

http://www.sojern.com


JuneMayApril

SEARCHED BOOKEDShare of Q2 2018 Search and Booking Volumes by Month

34% 35%35% 36% 31% 30%

Top Countries Searched and Booked

France

Germany

Greece

Italy

Mexico

Netherlands

Portugal

Spain

Switzerland

Thailand

United Kingdom

United States

SEARCHED BOOKED BOTH

Global Travel TrendsWhat were the outbound global trends for the quarter?




4 WWW.SOJERN.COM / [email protected]

Looking BackWe looked at travel planning for the region during April, May, and June to see travel search behavior as travelers ended the school year and prepared for the summer. Highlights include:

• 80% of North American travelers searched for trips of seven days or less—enjoying short trips for the first of summer holidays.

• 51% of travel searches were done at least one month in advance—North American travelers were early planners in Q2.

• 28% of Q2 travel searches came from mobile—highlighting an opportunity for travel marketers to get in front of planners on their mobile devices.

Looking ForwardAs Summer vacation heats up, travelers are focused on planning trips with their family and friends. To see how travel is shaping up for Q3 2018, we looked at searches for July, August, and September. Highlights include:

• One in three travel searches in September are for groups of two—highlighting an opportunity for marketers to target couples-based activities.

• 82% of short haul travelers are searching for trips of seven days or less—travelers are looking to enjoy short trips as we move into the fall.

North America Travel Trends Looking Back and Forward for the Whole Picture




North AmericaWhat were the outbound search trends for April–June?

Device Usage Top 5 Destinations

Miami

New York City

Las Vegas

Chicago

Los AngelesSearches on Mobile

Party Size

Lead Time

Trip Duration

1 TRAVELER

2 TRAVELERS

3+ TRAVELERS28%

0 TO 3 DAYS 4 TO 7 DAYS 8 TO 11 DAYS 12+ DAYS

69%

21%

10%

60+ Days

30 to 59 Days

22 to 29 Days

15 to 21 Days

8 to 14 Days

0 to 7 Days 20%

11%

9%

9%

21%

30%

11%9%47% 33%




North AmericaWhat are the search trends for July–September?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Party Size

Trip Duration

3+ Travelers2 Travelers1 Traveler

0.0

0.8

12+ Days8 to 11 Days4 to 7 Days0 to 3 Days

12% 15%24% 27%

9%18%

8% 29%38% 38%

64% 58%

44%15%

Miami

New York City

Las Vegas

Chicago

Los Angeles

Cancun

London

Montego Bay

Punta Cana

San Juan

Top 5 Destinations SHORT HAUL LONG HAUL

SHORT HAUL LONG HAUL





North AmericaWhat are the search trends for July–September?

Share of Weekday Travel Departures SHORT HAUL LONG HAUL

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

SaturdayFridayThursdayWednesdayTuesdayMondaySunday

12% 13%11%

13% 12%12% 13% 14% 15%

19%

16%14%

20%

16%

Share of Weekday Searches

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%


11% 12%

15% 15%

11%

17% 16% 17% 16% 15% 15%

12%14% 14%





As Fall approaches, North American travelers are looking for quick getaways within the region—with 44% looking for trips of 3 days or less and 38% for trips of 4-7 days during the month of September. One in three travelers are also looking to travel with one other

person, regardless if they are traveling in region or outside of the region. September is the perfect time for travel marketers to target couples who are looking for a romantic getaway or a fun trip with a friend.

Key Takeaways With travelers looking for couple-based trips in September, travel marketers can draw a direct line from them searching to booking by combining search marketing tactics and hyper-personalized ads targeted in real-time. This ensures travelers will become aware of your offerings at the precise moment they’re planning.

One success story is Boone Tavern Hotel, who partnered with Sojern to increase their direct bookings. With RevDirect™, Sojern’s commission-based online advertising offering that influences travelers to book direct, the hotel drove over $40K in incremental bookings, they also helped increase Boone Tavern Hotel’s ADR and overall RevPar.

Party Size 1 TRAVELER 2 TRAVELERS 3 TRAVELERS

Long Haul

Short Haul 9%32%59%

6%33%61%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%


27%

38% 37%

11%

23%

44%

13%

Trip Duration Searched SHORT HAUL LONG HAUL

8%

North America Spotlight September Travel Trends


https://www.sojern.com/case-studies/boone-tavern-hotel/

https://www.sojern.com/case-studies/boone-tavern-hotel/



Looking BackAs the region prepared for holiday demand in the North and colder weather in the South, we looked at travel planning for the region during April, May, and June. Highlights include:

• Latin American travelers were heavy planners—42% searched at least two months in advance of their travel.

• 53% of Latin Americans searched for trips with durations longer than a week—representing the highest share across the region.

Looking ForwardTo see how travel is shaping up for Q3 2018, we looked at searches for July, August, and September. Highlights include:

• Many Latin Americans are searching for trips over 12 days—with 35% of searches being for short haul trips and 49% of searches for long haul trips over 12 days as Summer draws to an end.

• Summer holidays are the perfect time to travel with friends and family—twooutoffiveLatinAmericansare searching for group travel.

Latin America Travel Trends Looking Back and Forward for the Whole Picture




Latin AmericaWhat were the outbound search trends for April–June?


Miami

New York City

Lisbon

Orlando

MadridSearches on Mobile

Party Size

Lead Time

Trip Duration

67%

19%

14%1 TRAVELER

2 TRAVELERS

3+ TRAVELERS36%


14% 39%23%24%

60+ Days

30 to 59 Days

22 to 29 Days

15 to 21 Days

8 to 14 Days

0 to 7 Days 15%

9%

8%

7%

19%

42%




Latin AmericaWhat are the search trends for July–September?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Party Size

Trip Duration


22%

64%

Cancun

Buenos Aires

São Paulo

Mexico City

Santiago

Miami

New York City

Lisbon

Madrid

Orlando


20% 16%20%

59%

14% 16% 35%49%

28%19%

23%16%







Latin AmericaWhat are the search trends for July–September?


0%

5%

10%

15%

20%


13% 13%15% 14% 15%

12%14% 13%

15% 14% 15%13%

18%16%


0%

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11% 12%

15% 16%

12%

16% 16% 16% 16% 15% 15%

12%14% 14%




Latin America Spotlight September Travel Trends

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%


50%

28%19% 16% 19%20%

12%


36%

Key Takeaways Travelers are people first—and their unique travel planning habits are direct indicators of their behaviors and preferences for travel and non-travel brands alike.

Knowing how travelers are searching for trip options is important. But these insights become even more powerful when combined with the Sojern Traveler Platform, where billions of real-time search and booking signals are automatically optimized to create bespoke audiences tailored to each individual client’s needs.

Mindshare, one of the world’s largest advertising agencies, reaffirmed this when selecting Sojern to support digital advertising needs for their luxury brands.

“Sojern differentiates itself in its audience targeting and service provided. Without Sojern I could not reach all the audiences I need.” - Alma Eugenia Cárcamo Gutiérrez, Digital Manager, Mindshare

Latin Americans are already planning trips for September, especially with some major holidays coming up, including Mexico’s Independence Day on September 16.

Our traveler insights show a very high demand for long trips—with 50% of long haul searches for 12+ days in duration.

1. September 12. September 73. September 14

Top Departure Dates Searched


https://youtu.be/7gdLUxYfJXU

https://youtu.be/7gdLUxYfJXU



Looking BackThe World Cup isn’t the only thing that happened in Europe lately; a lot of travelers were also planning trips to reach sunnier horizons. We looked at travel planning for the region during April, May, and June to understand shifting trends. Highlights include:

• 63% of Europeans searched for trips at least one month in advance, with 43% looking 60+ days out—making Europeans the second heaviest planners across the globe after Asia-Pacific travelers.

• In Europe, more searches were happening on mobile than desktop, 53% of travel searches happened on mobile.

Looking ForwardAs Europe prepares for their late-Summer siestas, we looked at travel searches for July, August, and September. Highlights include:

• 61% of long-haul European travelers are searching for trips of 12 or more days—Europeans are looking to get away for long holidays during July, August, and September.

• 55% of short-haul European travelers are searching for group travel of two or more—group travel is important to Europeans when traveling close to home.

Europe Travel Trends Looking Back and Forward for the Whole Picture






Paris

London

Lisbon

Barcelona

PalmaSearches on Mobile

Party Size

Lead Time

Trip Duration

53%28%

19% 1 TRAVELER

2 TRAVELERS

3+ TRAVELERS53%


9% 29%34%28%

60+ Days

30 to 59 Days

22 to 29 Days

15 to 21 Days

8 to 14 Days

0 to 7 Days 14%

9%

7%

7%

20%

43%

EuropeWhat were the outbound search trends for April–June?



EuropeWhat are the search trends for July–September?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Party Size

Trip Duration


31%

55%

Paris

Lisbon

London

Barcelona

Palma

New York City

Marrakech

Algiers

Istanbul

Tunis


24% 23%23%

44%

11% 12% 30%

61%

39%21%21% 7%






EuropeWhat are the search trends for July–September?


0%

5%

10%

15%

20%


12% 13%

19% 18%16%

11% 12% 11%

14% 13% 13%

16%18%

15%


0%

5%

10%

15%

20%


15% 14%16% 15%

12%

16% 15% 15% 15% 14% 15%13%13% 13%





Key TakeawaysWho doesn’t love a quick beach getaway—especially with your best friend or significant other? Europeans aren’t done with their summer planning just yet. For September travel, they are still searching for that perfect place to soak up the sun, or surf their worries away. As travelers are looking for their next trip, travel marketers can catch their attention by changing the messaging on their dynamic creative ads with key weather updates.

Weather can be unpredictable, but the relevance of your ads doesn’t have to be. Because certain temperatures or conditions can make or break travel plans, there isn’t much certainty behind the pertinence of weather ads. With the capabilities of using dynamic creative, advertisers are empowered to reach travelers in highly personalized ways by incorporating weather into their advertising strategies.

People are planning for those last getaways of the summer, with 70% of Europeans searching for short haul trips of a week or less in September. However, for long haul trips, 47% of Europeans are searching for trips of 12 or more days.

The majority of the trips are for two people with one out of three searches being for couples travel, regardless of the destination. Europeans may be looking to get away on a romantic holiday or a friendly adventure excursion.

Europe Spotlight September Travel Trends

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%


47%42%

30%

9% 16%

28%

8%


21%


Long Haul

Short Haul 18%39%42%

11%31%58%


https://www.sojern.com/blog/boost-campaign-performance-using-dynamic-weather-ads/

https://www.sojern.com/blog/boost-campaign-performance-using-dynamic-weather-ads/



Looking BackSearch behavior for the Middle East and African regions during April, May, and June revealed some interesting traveler insights. Highlights include:

• 71% of Middle East and Africans searched for solo trips during April, May, and June.

• One out of three travelers were planning last minute–31% searching less than a week before their departure date.

Looking ForwardTo see how travel is shaping up for Q3 2018, we looked at searches for July, August, and September. Highlights include:

• People are primarily searching for solo trips–64% of short haul and 67% of long haul trip searches being for solo travelers.

• Middle East and Africans prefer to travel for more than a week–38% of short haul and 48% of long haul trip searches being for more than a week.

Middle East and Africa Travel Trends Looking Back and Forward for the Whole Picture

GLOBAL TRAVEL INSIGHTS: ISSUE 3, 2018 19 WWW.SOJERN.COM / CONTACT US GLOBAL TRAVEL INSIGHTS: ISSUE 2, 2018



Middle East and AfricaWhat were the outbound search trends for April–June?


Jeddah

Riyadh

Cairo

Istanbul

Dubai

Party Size

Lead Time

Trip Duration

71%

14%

15%1 TRAVELER

2 TRAVELERS

3+ TRAVELERS52%


11% 32%23%34%

Searches on Mobile

60+ Days

30 to 59 Days

22 to 29 Days

15 to 21 Days

8 to 14 Days

0 to 7 Days 31%

11%

8%

7%

18%

25%




Middle East and AfricaWhat are the search trends for July–September?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0%

20%

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Party Size

Trip Duration


13%

67%

Istanbul

Cairo

Dubai

Casablanca

Jeddah

Paris

Lisbon

London

Manila

New York City


23%18%16%

64%

13% 15% 38%48%

24% 24%25% 12%






Middle East and AfricaWhat are the search trends for July–September?


0%

5%

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16% 15%13% 14%

12%12% 12%14% 14%

17% 17%

12%

15% 16%


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12% 13% 14% 15% 14%15% 15% 15% 15% 15% 15% 14%14% 14%





Middle East and Africa Spotlight September Travel Trends

Middle East and African travel destination searches during the month of September are all leaning European, focusing on metropolitan and sightseeing destinations.

One point that we see specifically for September is that people are beginning to search for trips for two—offering an excellent opportunity for travel marketers to target couple-based experiences.

Key Takeaways Astute travel marketers will capitalize on the trends referenced above—targeting your top of funnel awareness campaigns to solo travelers and couples in the Middle East and Africa in September. Then, retarget these individuals with Facebook Dynamic Ads for Travel (DAT) to give a boost to your bookings.

When a user searches for a hotel or a flight but does not book, Facebook DAT allows you to retarget them with ads based on their specific dates, destination, or other trip details such as number of travelers. With Facebook DAT, top travel marketers are capturing travelers lower in the funnel to drive direct bookings at high ROAS.

Top Destinations Searched

Overall Top

Lisbon

Paris

Istanbul

London

New York City

Metropolitan

Paris

London

New York City

Amsterdam

Cairo

Sightseeing/Recreation

Lisbon

Paris

Istanbul

London

Tel Aviv


Long Haul


14%22%64%


https://www.sojern.com/blog/facebook-dynamic-ads-for-travel-key-benefits/?utm_medium=ebook&utm_source=mktg&utm_campaign=facebookDAT_2018_i3_gti

https://www.sojern.com/blog/facebook-dynamic-ads-for-travel-key-benefits/?utm_medium=ebook&utm_source=mktg&utm_campaign=facebookDAT_2018_i3_gti

http://marketing.adphorus.com.s3.amazonaws.com/Success%20Stories/Success%20Story%20-%20Leading%20Travel%20Agency%20DAT%20Retention%20Test



Asia-Pacific Travel TrendsLooking Back and Forward for the Whole Picture

Looking BackDuring April, May, and June, Asia-Pacific travelers were not only heavy planners, but they were primarily solo travelers with only 37% searching for group trips. Highlights include:

• OneinfourAsia-Pacifictravelerssearchedforapartyoftwo, whereas 63% were searching for solo travel and 12% were searching for groups of three or more.

• Asia-Pacific travelers were the heaviest planners of all regions with 45% of travel searches starting 60 days out from the departure date.

Looking ForwardAs tropical rainfall begins to lessen for the Asia-Pacific region, we look forward to travel searches for July, August, and September. Highlights include:

• Solo-based travel tops the search charts regardless of the destination. However, more are searching for solo- based trips when searching for long haul destinations—61% when searching for short haul vs 67% for long haul.

• Asian-Pacific travelers are either looking at traveling for a short time within region or for a long time outside of their region—40% of travelers are searching for short haul trips of a duration of four days to a week, whereas 44% of long haul searches are for 12 days or more.

GLOBAL TRAVEL INSIGHTS: ISSUE 3, 2018 24 WWW.SOJERN.COM / CONTACT US GLOBAL TRAVEL INSIGHTS: ISSUE 2, 2018




Singapore

Bangkok

Tokyo

Taipei

Hong KongSearches on Mobile

Party Size

Lead Time

Trip Duration

63%24%

12%1 TRAVELER

2 TRAVELERS

3+ TRAVELERS33%


60+ Days

30 to 59 Days

22 to 29 Days

15 to 21 Days

8 to 14 Days

0 to 7 Days 12%

8%

7%

7%

20%

45%

13% 24%35%27%

Asia-PacificWhat were the outbound search trends for April–June?




0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Party Size

Trip Duration


27%

67%

Singapore

Bangkok

Tokyo

Taipei

Hong Kong

London

Honolulu

Los Angeles

Athens

New York City


12% 11%22%

61%

13% 14% 19%44%40%

24%27%18%



Asia-PacificWhat are the search trends for July–September?





0%

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12% 13% 12%

15% 15%

11%

14% 14% 14%

17%15% 15%

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11%13%

16% 15%

11%

18%16% 16% 16% 15% 15%

12%14% 14%


Asia-PacificWhat are the search trends for July–September?




1. September 12. September 143. September 7

Top Departure Dates Searched

Asia-Pacific SpotlightSeptember Travel Trends

Key Takeaways Asia-Pacific travelers are already searching for their next trip—they know when and with whom they want to celebrate festivals, like the Mid-Autumn Festival. Travel marketers can capture the attention of these forward-looking travelers using video while they’re searching for their next trip.

For example, an in-banner video ad offers the personalized elements of dynamic creative and can be targeted directly to

those travelers in the planning stages. Marketers can create a single video asset, then use dynamic overlays to deliver tailored messages and inspire dreamers to book.

For example, you could create a single video promoting Mid-Autumn Festival travel and then overlay a series of dynamic messages to reach multiple target audiences in real-time.

As the seasons change in Asia-Pacific, we look at travel search intent for the month of September. People are looking to book that last trip with a friend—one in three travel searches are for a party of two.

Our data shows that September 14th is the second highest travel departure date searched—perfect for a trip to celebrate activities such as the Mid-Autumn Festival, which happens on September 25th.


Long Haul


9%27%64%


https://www.sojern.com/blog/dynamic-creative-drives-direct-booking-inspiration/



Glossary Lead Time (Search of Booking) The length of time between a search or booking and departure date.Last-Minute Booker A traveler that books a trip with seven days or less to travel.Beach Destination One of the main tourist draws is the beach.

Short-Haul and Long-Haul Trip Short-haul is usually regional, while long-haul is usually inter-regional.Metropolitan Destination A major, highly populated city.Sightseeing/Recreational Destination A destination known for famous land-marks, sights, or activities.

Regional CoverageSojern breaks down the world into the following regions:

North America

Latin America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

Middle East and Africa

MethodologySojern’s quarterly insights reports are based on the rigorous analysis of more than a billion traveler intent data points, obtained through Sojern’s unique partnerships with some of the world’s most renowned travel brands. The data provided is not a complete view of all global traveler information, as different data sources provide additional views of traveler behavior.




Interested in working with Sojern to reach, engage, and

convert travel audiences?

Connect With Us

Built on a decade of expertise analyzing the complete traveler path-to-purchase, Sojern drives travelers from dream to destination. The company delivered $13B in bookings for its clients to date by activating multi-channel branding and performance solutions on the Sojern Traveler Platform.

Recognized on the Top Company Cultures list by Entrepreneur Magazine, Sojern is headquartered in San Francisco, with teams based in Berlin, Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Mexico City, New York, Omaha, Paris, Singapore, and Sydney.

www.sojern.com


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Documents

Inside This Issuesolutions.sojern.com/rs/264-GMU-510/images/GTI2018Issue3_Sojern_071918_Final.pdfThe World Cup isn’t the only thing that happened in Europe lately; a lot of travelers