Value Remains In Vogue: In Pursuit Of The Best Deal | Ypartnership Insights March 2011

Yes, most economic indices (including our Traveler Sentiment Index^TM) now suggest that demand for travel services will recover nicely in the year ahead, but this doesn't mean consumers are ready to pay higher fares and rates just yet. In fact, the results of our soon-to-be-released 2011 Portrait of American Travelers^TM reveal that value remains in vogue, and that travelers are still focused on finding the best fares and rates when planning and purchasing travel services, whether for business or leisure. This should come as no surprise as the memory of their personal financial angst caused by the Great Recession still looms large.

So where do travelers think they get the best prices (aka value) on travel services? The answer is provided below:

It comes as no surprise that the Internet is the shopping vehicle of choice (particularly among travelers less than 35 years of age), and the ability to comparison shop fares and rates across multiple travel suppliers is, increasingly, the reason cited why.

Consumers' belief in the likelihood of finding the best deals online is also the primary reason they "typically use" online travel agency sites such as Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and Priceline when shopping for travel services. The incidence of visitation of these sites clearly dominates that of supplier travel websites (their low fare and price guarantees notwithstanding), yet it is interesting to note that visitation of the sites that are most likely to yield the best deals (meta search sites) remains low. Specifically, as revealed below, only one in seven travelers has even been to a meta search site. Even fewer have visited private sale and/or collective buying sites. This is presumably because the latter don't enjoy the same degree of awareness among consumers, yet this is also likely to change in the year ahead:

The data from our 2011 Portrait of American Travelers^TM also reveal an intriguing insight into the evolving role of the Internet when it comes to "planning" versus "purchasing" travel. Specifically, family and friends (52%) and travel guidebooks (46%) still trump Internet search engines (39%) as preferred sources of "ideas and inspiration" when planning leisure travel! Thus, the most effective destination and travel service supplier marketing strategies must include both offline and online components.

For more information on the Ypartnership/Harrison Group 2011 Portrait of American Travelers^TM please visit the Publications section of www.ypartnership.com.