In pursuit of a happier life: “collect moments, not things.” That’s the advice a contemporary author, Karen Salmansohn, gives her readers. And perhaps, this underpins the human desire for travel and explains our thirst to create new experiences, to make unforgettable memories. This drive has inspired wanderlusts since time immemorial, but can we still ‘collect moments’ in tourist hotspots or do we need to venture further and explore destinations off the beaten track?
What we found is an emerging consensus among travellers on wanting to avoid busy and over-visited destinations.
At Booking.com, we conduct annual surveys of travellers. And this year, we gathered insights from more than 30,000 people across 32 countries and territories. What we found is an emerging consensus among travellers on wanting to avoid busy and over-visited destinations. A third (33%) said they chose to travel outside of peak season and over a quarter (27%) chose to go to a less popular destination over the last 12 months. When contemplating future plans, 40% said they’d be willing to travel exclusively outside of peak season to avoid overcrowding, and 64% revealed they’d avoid popular tourist destinations and attractions to ensure a more even dispersal of the impact and benefits of their visit. Almost a third (31%) would even be willing to choose an alternative to their preferred destination to help avoid overcrowding.
In 2019, only a small fraction of European accommodation sales went to rural areas (16%). Yet, when we talk about the share of total sales via online travel platforms, the number more than doubles (38%).
Given that the growth in the travel & tourism sector has been outpacing the overall economic growth for decades, the pressure on the tourist hotspots is unlikely to lessen. On the flip side, we witness how consumer preferences are changing in response.
Digitalisation of the global economy has brought numerous benefits to consumers in the travel and tourism sector.
What can be done in this context, and what role could online travel agencies (OTAs) play? We’ve commissioned Tourism Economics to explore exactly this question, and this is what the research has found.
It is widely accepted that online travel platforms increase transparency within the market and also make it easier for customers to search and book online. The contrast is especially stark if we consider the pre-internet days when the options for would-be-world-explorers were limited to whatever the local travel agency included in its catalogue. The offline channels to discover a destination and book your next trip remain important, but there is no denying that the digitalisation of the global economy has brought numerous benefits to consumers in the travel and tourism sector.
Online platforms, by offering more choice, also help to spread out tourism away from the urban centres
By widening consumer choice, OTAs impact rates charged by accommodation providers, making travel more affordable. This benefits particularly low-income households, who might otherwise not be able to afford any travel at all.
But there is a second level effect that, until now, hasn’t been studied at the required level of detail. The study by Tourism Economics shows that online platforms, by offering more choice, also help to spread out tourism away from the urban centres as this graph demonstrates.
Online platforms don’t discriminate or differentiate between chains and non-chains; everyone is welcome to list their rooms and utilise our global reach to attract guests.
When comparing the European market for travel accommodations as a whole versus the rooms sold via online platforms, Tourism Economics found that rural areas gained the most from the additionality of room-nights booked via online platforms. In 2019, for example, only a small fraction of European accommodation sales went to rural areas (16%). Yet, when we talk about the share of total sales via online travel platforms, the number more than doubles (38%).
Whereas hotels belonging to international chains tend to concentrate in the popular destinations with high tourism density, accommodations in general, inclusive of independent hotels, small B&Bs, agriturismos, various forms or alternative accommodations, are much more widely distributed, as evidenced by listings on Booking.com.
Without online platforms like Booking.com, a greater concentration of visitors in a few hotspots would’ve been the most likely scenario
Online platforms don’t discriminate or differentiate between chains and non-chains, everyone is welcome to list their rooms and utilise our global reach to attract guests. Our core objective is to give travellers maximum choice and empower them to make decisions with confidence. But what we’ve noticed, drawing on internal Booking.com data, is that localities to which chain hotels are naturally drawn are more economically successful than those covered by small and independent accommodations. Looking at GDP per capita for the regions in the top quartile of chain penetration across Europe, we find it to be on average ~30% higher than that for the lowest quartile. In the example with Germany, it is €50,400 vs. €32,180 for the reference year 2019.
In the travel and tourism sector, where Europe remains an undisputed champion, OTAs have played a strong and constructive role — generating large volumes of additional tourism nights and supporting GDP growth and job creation across a wide range of destinations. Without online platforms like Booking.com, a greater concentration of visitors in a few hotspots would’ve been the most likely scenarios. But, as we work to outspread tourism to destinations off the beaten path, we are responding to the changing consumer preferences and making it easier for everyone to experience Europe in all of its diversity and beauty.
