OCTOBER 205 The ADARA Data-Driven Travel Report Holiday 205 Travel Prediction Based on Holiday Trends 204-Q3 205 With Holiday 205 rapidly approaching, trends from flight and hotel bookings from 204 through Q3 of 205 are predictive of patterns this coming season. The good news is that there is still time to influence holiday travelers who are in pre-purchase mode: n Solo Travelers are most likely to still be in planning mode, but there are plenty of couples and families not yet booked as well n We ve seen higher air booking to search ratios in Q-Q3 205 compared to FY 204 so connecting with the right offer is more important than ever n In 204, only half of all holiday flights were booked by November 7, leaving plenty of opportunity to reach and engage with travelers during Q4 n 50% of all holiday hotel stays were booked after December 4 with half of family travelers purchasing after December 9 Plenty of Travelers Still in Planning Mode We compared flights booked to date for Holiday 205 to all flights booked for Holiday 204, and found there are some key differences in advanced bookings by destination and by number of travelers. Ratio of Q-Q3 205 Booked Flights vs. FY 204 5% 5% Boston, MA 6% Orlando, FL 6% 7% Fort Lauderdale, FL 20% Orlando, FL 8% 25% Fort Lauderdale, FL 9% Honolulu, HI 37% 5% 7% Orlando, FL 25% Fort Lauderdale, FL 28% Honolulu, HI 48% Key Differences by Number of Travelers and Location: n Solo travelers are least likely to book in advance but more likely to book beach destinations in advance. (Year to date, 9% of 204 bookings have been purchased to Ft. Lauderdale, but only 5% of bookings to New York) n Couple travelers are more likely to purchase in advance than solo travelers. Hard to reach destinations like Honolulu have a higher ratio compared to 204 (37% of flights have already been booked) while only 5% of LA flights have been booked n Families are the segment most likely to have purchased in advance, but there are also big discrepancies by location: 48% of Honolulu trips have been booked, but only 7% of Los Angeles trips
Conversions: They re Up and Location Dependent! In 204, about 2-5% of all searches ended up as bookings (or there were an average of 20-50 searches before a booking is made). In looking at data from Q-Q3 205, we are seeing a higher ratio of bookings to searches (for example, 3% of all searches for Orlando or Fort Lauderdale translate to bookings) this could mean that we expect more travelers in 205 or that holiday travelers who plan in advance need fewer searches before booking their trips. Searching is free, but pulling the trigger on a holiday vacation may be a little trickier. We see a higher search to book ratio for exotic locations like Honolulu or Maui (about 60 searches) compared to Buffalo or Milwaukee (about 30 searches). Searches Per Flight Booking Hotels Awaiting Bookings into December On average, hotels are booked even later than flights when planning holiday travel. Half of all holiday hotel stays were booked after December 4, with family travelers booking half of their travel only a week in advance, by December 9. This leaves plenty of time to lure these last minute bookers with just the right offer. Holiday 204 US Hotel Booking Trend % OF HOTEL BOOKINGS BY DATE 4% 8% 0% 9/5/4 8% 3% 6% 20% 23% 2% 42% 57% 0/5/4 /5/4 2/5/204 60 HONOLULU, HI 56 KAHULUI, HI 34 MILWAUKEE, WI 33 BUFFALO, NY Flight to Booking Timeline Varies By Segment The holiday trip planning timeline shows that while the flight to booking window is similar across traveler types, the advance purchase window varies widely; from nearly 70 days in advance for families, to 34 days for solo travelers. Hotels need to target travelers from the time they start searching for flights. Flights Up for Grabs In 204, only half of all holiday flights were booked by November 7, leaving plenty of opportunity to reach and engage with travelers during Q4. Family Travelers tend to purchase a few weeks earlier than couples or solo travelers, with half of all flights purchased before October 24. Solo Travelers were more likely to wait until December to book. Holiday 204 US Air Booking Trend % OF FLIGHTS BOOKED BY DATE 8% 7% 23% 20% 44% 35% 34% 52% 86% 89% 76% Flight And Hotel Booking Timeline DAYS FROM FLIGHT BOOKING Based on travelers booking flight and hotel for a given trip FIRST FLIGHT SEARCH FIRST HOTEL SEARCH HOTEL BOOKING DEPARTURE/CHECK-IN Half of all holiday hotel stays were booked after December 4-8 -4-0 -5 - -6 34 60 69 9/5/4 0/5/4 /5/4 2/5/204
Trip Planning Flights First On average, more flights are booked prior to hotel bookings, but there are variances. Resort-centric locations, like Hawaii, have a greater proportion of hotel rooms booked prior to flights. For example, roughly in 3 travelers to Hawaii book their hotel room prior to their flight, compared to only in 4 holiday travelers to Chicago. Average Holiday Flight Duration WEEK INTERNATIONAL DOMESTIC 8% 49% Percent of Travelers Who Have Booked Their Hotel Rooms Prior to Their Flight Booking HOTEL FIRST FLIGHT FIRST 2 WEEKS HAWAII 32% 68% CHICAGO 26% 74% 3 WEEKS 4 WEEKS 5 WEEKS 22% 9% 9% 2% 5% % More than of international flights are 2-3 weeks in duration Let s Really Get Away For many Americans, the holidays are the main time of year to take off for more than one week. Not surprisingly, nearly half of all domestic flights are one week in duration or less, whereas fewer than 20% of international flights are less than one week. When looking at flight duration by traveler type, families and couples are most likely to take two weeks off (nearly, and 5% respectively), whereas more than 40% of solo travelers flying internationally are booking flights for three or more weeks. 6 WEEKS 6% % Flight Duration By Number Of Travelers 59% 5% 44% 2% 2% 6% 27% 2% WEEK 2 WEEKS 3 WEEKS
Where Are They Going: Top International Holiday Flights 204 During the holidays, hot spots like Puerto Rico and Cancun are tops for travelers in general as well as families. Both groups are willing to say Cheerio as English speaking-london assumes the top three spot on both lists. ALL TRAVELERS. San Juan, PR 2. Cancun, MX 3. London, GB 4. Santo Domingo, DO 5. Paris, FR 6. Tokyo, JP 7. Santiago, DO 8. Mumbai, IN 9. Mexico City, MX 0. Manila, PH. Cancun, MX 2. San Juan, PR 3. London, GB 4. Nassau, BS 5. San Jose, CR 6. Charlotte Amalie, VI 7. Puerto Vallarta, MX 8. Punta Cana, DO 9. San Jose Del Cabo, MX 0. Oranjestad, AR Where Are They Going: Top Domestic Holiday Flights 204 Top Domestic Destinations by Origination Region Northeasterners and Midwesterners are trying to get away from the cold over the holidays: 3 out of the top 5 destinations for Northeasterners are within Florida. Other than New York City, Midwesterners tend to fly to warm locations (including the relatively warm San Francisco, Atlanta and Las Vegas). Southerners are flying north for the holidays. New York, Detroit, Boston, Chicago and Minneapolis are all in the top 5 destinations. Interestingly, no Florida City is in the top 5 flight destinations among holiday travelers from the West Coast. Top Domestic Destinations by Origination Region NORTHEAST Fort Lauderdale, FL Orlando, FL West Palm Beach, FL SOUTH Detroit, MI Boston, MA MIDWEST Orlando, FL Fort Myers, FL Orlando has magic for everyone: # for Families, #5 for Couples and #7 for Solo Travelers. 2. 3. 4. Fort Lauderdale, FL 5. Orlando, FL 6. Detroit, MI 7. Minneapolis, MN 8. Boston, MA 9. San Francisco, CA 0. Las Vegas, NV Domestically, 7 out of 0 travelers are visiting the Eastern Seaboard or the Midwest. WEST Minneapolis, MN Detroit, MI
Most Expensive Domestic Destinations by Average Daily Rate (ADR) Luxe beach and ski resorts, as well as quaint, small town charm (with big price tags) drew in Holiday Travelers in 204. Understandably, some resort areas like Maui and Vail have the highest ADR for hotels during the holidays, however, this may be driven by specific hotel properties, like the Ritz Carlton Resorts in Half Moon Bay and Greensboro. Most Expensive Domestic Destinations By ADR (USD). Half Moon Bay, CA 2. Riviera Beach, FL 3. Vail, CO 4. Kapolei-Oahu, HI 5. Lahaina-Maui, HI 6. Miami Beach, FL 7. Amelia Island, FL 8. Lihue-Kauai, HI 9. Greensboro, GA 0. Key West, FL $666 $639 $593 $584 $558 $495 $483 $478 $47 $465 Takeaways There is still time to reach holiday travelers in pre-vacation mode since half of all flights were not booked until November 7 and half of all hotels were booked after December 4 last year: n Segments like the solo traveler are particularly likely to have not yet booked but plenty of couples and families have yet to make their plans as well n We have seen a smaller search to purchase ratio this year but that could mean that we expect more travelers in 205 or that holiday travelers who plan in advance need fewer searches before booking their trips n The travel search window is often location dependent and specific segments will be open to last minute opportunities n Hotel planning is often done a few weeks before the holidays and it may take just the right targeted, creative and relevant offer to convert these last-minute bookers. Methodology ADARA s transactional travel data is based on its relationships with over 90+ global travel brands. ADARA is in a unique position to assess actual real time travel searches and determine what patterns in the data reveal about the past travel season to help marketers determine how such trends will impact future travel. All data refers to searches and bookings during the time periods defined Friday, December 9, 204 Sunday, January 4, 205 (Holiday 204) and the time period defined Friday, December 8, 205 Sunday, January 3, 206 (Holiday 205). About ADARA ADARA leverages global travel data to drive future business performance. ADARA s Magellan platform transforms loyalty, search and booking data into actionable knowledge that allows companies to better understand, reach and engage customers. The platform is fueled by first party data from more than 80 global travel brands, including American Airlines, United, Delta Air Lines, Marriott, Hilton and Hertz. Founded in 2009, the company has 5 offices across the U.S., Europe, Middle East and Asia, including its headquarters in Mountain View, California. For more information on how ADARA can help differentiate your marketing, contact sales@adara.com