The Word on the Street - Travel

More videos! But this time we take to the streets. As the summer holiday season is now upon us, our Google on the Street Team have been out talking to consumers about their travel plans.

Last year, 1 in 3 Brits spent an entire day trying to find the best holiday deals online (Source: Greenbee.com survey, January 2009). Are consumers still as keen to find the best deals online now that the economy has shown signs of recovery?

Watch our short video to find out what they said in response to the following questions:
How do you decide where to go on holiday?
Do you prefer to book your holidays in store, on the phone or online?
How important is the internet when deciding where to go?
Do you use online videos to research your holiday?

think with Google: Travel Industry Leaders Share Their Thoughts

YouTube has long been a place to come to look for information and to connect with other people with similar interests. In the same vein, we have launched "think", Google UK's new platform for sharing business insights and viewpoints delivered in bite-sized, inspiring and actionable videos.

The channel has some of the UK's leading thinkers offering their insights on strategy, trends, consumer insights and more. Contributors already include EasyJets' Founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Loannou, and Cheapflights' Media's Global Sales Director, Francesca Essary, and many other inspiring people.



As always, viewers will be able to rate videos, leave comments and subscribe. The hope is that this will become a thriving business community in the spirit of YouTube – so head to the channel, listen to the thinkers and feel free to make your voice heard.

YouTube.com/think

Christoffer Klemming
B2B Marketing, Google UK

UK Travellers go online as the England team returns home

Last week we predicted around a 7% Week on Week (WoW) increase in Travel queries following England's departure from the World Cup.

Latest data shows that the week after England team's departure from the World Cup:
Travel Queries rose by +9% WoW.
Clicks on Travel ads increase by +15% WoW.

The fact that clicks on Travel ads grew at a faster rate than queries suggests that the consumers who are searching for Travel products now, are looking to purchase in the near future, rather than just researching holiday destinations.

These Week on Week increases occurred across all sectors of Travel. Flights and Hotels categories showed the highest click and query growth.

Rashad Sharif, Industry Analyst

Did the World Cup affect Travel queries?

Posted by Rashad Sharif, Industry Analyst.

Following England's departure from the World Cup last Sunday, I've attempted to quantify the impact this year's tournament has had on UK Travel queries.

Main findings:
• We would have expected 10% more queries and 8% more clicks in the past 3 weeks had the world cup not taken place.
• Package Holiday & Car Hire queries/clicks were most impacted, though all Travel sectors were affected.
• If 2010 follows 2006 seasonality, we expect a 7% increase in travel queries this week.
Estimates take into consideration: Current YoY average growth rates, 2006 seasonality, last year’s trends and month on month growth rates.

The graphs above illustrate the differences in growth rates as a result of the World Cup for each Travel sector.