The latest analysis from Hitwise, the online competitive intelligence service, reveals that with the close of the World Cup, UK internet users are turning their attention to summer holidays and winter escapes. Summer is…
The latest analysis from Hitwise, the online competitive intelligence service, reveals that with the close of the World Cup, UK internet users are turning their attention to summer holidays and winter escapes. Summer is typically one of the busiest seasons for travel websites and this year looks set to be busier than ever, with visits to websites in the Hitwise Travel category up 8% year-on-year and up 15% in the past month. The internet giants are leading the charge with visits over the past month up 23% to Lastminute.com, 27% to Expedia UK, 20% to TripAdvisor, 33% to LateRooms UK and 25% to First Choice.
“Despite the hype surrounding the World Cup and high hopes for England in early matches, attention of UK consumers does not appear to have been deflected from planning summer holidays,” said Heather Hopkins, Director of Research for Hitwise UK. “Visits to travel websites have grown more rapidly in the past month than during the same period last year. Given the flurry of activity in recent weeks, we are likely to see strong growth for the sector online leading up to the mid-August annual peak.”
Consumers search for last minute summer holidays and research winter escapes
Analysis of the most searched-for destinations sending visits to travel agency websites reveals that while some consumers are searching for last minute summer holidays, others are researching winter escapes to long-haul destinations, such as Australia.
The most searched-for destinations sending visits to Travel Agencies in the four weeks to 8th July 2006 include Australia, Turkey, Tenerife, Cyprus, and Florida. The top search terms sending visits to online travel agencies in the four weeks ending 8th July 2006, excluding brand names, were ‘holidays,’ ‘cheap holidays,’ ‘cheap flights,’ ‘flights,’ ‘travel agents’ and ‘package holidays.’
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Top 10 search terms driving traffic to T ravel A gency websites |
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Rank |
Top destination search terms |
Top non-brand search terms |
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1 |
flights to australia |
holidays |
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2 |
cheap flights to australia |
cheap holidays |
|
3 |
cheap flights to turkey |
cheap flights |
|
4 |
flights to tenerife |
flights |
|
5 |
flights to cyprus |
travel agents |
|
6 |
cheap flights to cyprus |
package holidays |
|
7 |
cheap flights to tenerife |
all inclusive holidays |
|
8 |
florida holidays |
holiday |
|
9 |
flights to new york |
travel insurance |
|
10 |
cheap flights to alicante |
travel |
Source: Hitwise UK
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
