Customized Marketing in Tourism

The probably most important question for tourism marketing: How and where do I set priorities to get people who are planning a trip interested in my product? The paths of the customer journey are not only diverse, they also run in different directions depending on nationality. As an analysis by Expedia Group revealed, research paths to booking have changed significantly in recent years. One finding based on the evaluation in seven countries was that consumers spend a total of 303 minutes, or 5 hours, of their time online from 45 days before booking to completion to research a trip whose destination was not previously determined.?They spend most of their time on OTAs, search engines, social media, airline websites, meta travel sites, e.g. Google Hotel Ads, Tripadviser, KAYAK, Trivago and SKyscanner, and hotel websites.

The time spent on the computer was almost twice as long as on the mobile network. The latter is due not least to the fact that the desired information can be found quickly and that travel enthusiasts are now used to working with mobile apps. The younger they are, the more likely they are to use their mobile phone as a work tool in their private lives. For marketing experts, these changes mean re-analyzing the booking behavior of their customers and international guests and, if necessary, adjusting the budget for marketing and advertising accordingly. In doing so, perhaps more emphasis should now be placed, literally, on social media.

This is because, as the analysis also revealed, the average traveler is inspired by social media (77%), followed by travel blogs or review sites (44%) such as Tripadvisor and destination websites (41%). Just less than three of five consumers don't have a specific destination in mind or are considering different destinations before they start planning. The most important platforms in terms of inspiration are Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Meanwhile, advertising plays a big role in online planning, especially at the start of the travel shopping journey. The decisive factors are inspiring photos of the location and/or hotel, and content that focuses on special experiences, as well as "irresistible" promotion paired with a call to action. The best case: action = click = firm booking.