55% of internet users book holidays online

More than half of internet users book their holidays directly online new research conducted by Nielsen//NetRatings on behalf of marketing agency Harvest Digital and pan-European advertising network Adviva have revealed.

Thursday, 4 January 2007

Only seven per cent research and buy their holidays from travel agents on the high street and one per cent book on Teletext. Nine per cent of internet users book their holidays on the high street after researching online and a further 17 per cent research holidays online then book over the telephone proving that the internet is the most important channel for researching and buying holidays.

Advertisers are recognising the growing importance of the internet travel market amongst consumers. The results from the last IAB/ PwC online adspend study for the first half of 2006 revealed that the travel and transport was the fifth biggest spending sector, making up 8.1 per cent of the total internet advertising spend. Research like the Nielsen//NetRatings, Adviva and Harvest Digital study enables marketers to see exactly how their consumers are behaving within this vertical.

Further insights of the research reveal that:

• A beach holiday is the most common type of holiday booked online followed by a long-haul trip, cruise or fly-drive whilst activity holidays are more popular on the high street
• Two thirds of online shoppers usually take two or more major holidays (one week or more) a year and a quarter have three or more holidays
• Older people are particularly likely to take regular holidays with 23% of people aged 55 and over taking three holidays per year compared with just 16% of internet users overall
• This group is also likely to book a holiday at the last minute: 28% of people aged over 55 booked their holiday a month or less before departure
• compared with 25% of under 24’s and 18% of internet users overall

Commenting on the research, Mike Teasdale Planning Director at Harvest Digital explains, "As the first truly global medium, the Internet has always had a special affinity with the travel industry and powerful new entrants are rumoured to be entering the market, most notably Google with their long-rumoured Google Travel portal. Obviously offline media still has a vital role to play in the marketing mix, but once an online consumer is interested in a specific destination or holiday, they use the Internet to research and buy."

The research was conducted through Adviva, the largest CPM focused network in the UK, which reaches 19.7 unique users with seven million impressions a month in the travel sector. 863 completed questionnaires were collected.

• For more information please visit the Harvest Digital website