According to a Prophis Research and Consulting survey of 770 US adults with Internet access, 61% had either traveled or had sought information about travel (i.e. either through Internet or offline sources) in the…
According to a Prophis Research and Consulting survey of 770 US adults with Internet access, 61% had either traveled or had sought information about travel (i.e. either through Internet or offline sources) in the previous 12 month period. Prophis projects that, according to this definition, there are currently 90 million US adults “travelers” with Internet access. The figure below contains a breakdown of various travel related behaviors.
Prophis estimates that personal travel booked over the Internet in 2006 in the US was US$44.6 billion. An additional US$30.0 billion is estimated to have been booked for business travel (i.e. non-managed business travel). This makes the 2006 US leisure/non-managed business travel purchase market worth an estimated US$75.6 billion.
Internet Travel Suppliers Expected to Deliver the Good Deals Securely
When asked to rate the importance of 23 service items (see Footnote below) in an Internet travel service provider, the greatest percentage rated “Good deals / Best rates” the highest (i.e. 81% rated it a 5 on the 5 point importance scale from 1 Not at all important to 5 Very important). “Assurance of secure online transaction” was next highest with 79% rating a 5. The next cluster of responses were “Detailed clear pricing,” which was rated a 5 by 69%, “Ease of booking” (67%), and “Website ease of use” (66%).
For almost every item, both for Internet travel service providers in general as well as for those that respondents actually purchased from, respondents tended to report deficiencies or service “gaps” (i.e. where the mean importance rating exceeded the mean score on the performance scale from poor to excellent). For example, “Providing detailed clear pricing” was one item that was rated significantly higher on the importance scale than on the performance scale.
Customer Satisfaction and its Drivers
Customers were more satisfied with the Internet travel service provider they last purchased from (i.e. 49% rated this particular supplier a 5 on the 5 point satisfaction scale from 1 Not at all satisfied to 5 Very satisfied) than they were with Internet travel services in general (i.e. 26% rated a 5 on the satisfaction scale). The research also shows that satisfaction is driven by different factors in the travel search phase versus the travel purchase phase.
Stuart W. Hemerling, Senior Research Consultant with Prophis Research and Consulting said, “The thing that customers found to be most important in driving satisfaction when looking for travel on the Internet clearly was finding the lowest price. Yet after a traveler actually decides to purchase from a supplier, the drivers of satisfaction become much more complex. Marketing these services effectively requires a recognition of these realities.”
“Marketers and managers need to focus their strategies on improving their Internet service performance precisely on the handful of service areas where there are the biggest service gaps at present. These gaps represent the biggest opportunities to rise above the intense competition.”
Individual service items tested were: Good deals / best rates; Special offers; Package holidays; Last minute offers; Best price guarantee; Ability to build your own itinerary (e.g. for multiple destination trips); Travel insurance offers; Detailed information in general; Detailed clear pricing; Traveler Opinions (e.g. ratings and comments); Current flight status; Detailed airport information; Ideas for travel destinations; Maps for locations of interest; Information about events, tours, activities; Website ease of use; Ease of booking; Quick email support; Toll free 24/7 telephone support; Periodic email alerts with relevant deals of interest; Site is a well known travel supplier; Trust supplier with my data / Privacy policy; and Assurance of secure online transaction.
Additional Facts and Figures
Figure: Percentage of US adults with Internet access having engaged in selected travel related behaviors in the past 12 months. Findings based on Prophis eResearch September 2006 survey of US adults with Internet access, n=770. Multiple responses permitted.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
