Understanding how travellers behave is critical to our business, and this insight ensures our hotel partners can connect and engage with travellers today and in the future.
The $1.4 trillion global travel market is growing rapidly, is highly fragmented and highly competitive.
According to a recently released Phocuswright White Paper, just under three quarters of Australian hotel shoppers booked their travel online via OTAs, compared with just 21% who went direct to the hotel. So what differentiates an OTA booker versus someone booking direct with the hotel?
Everyone knows (or thinks they know) a lot about OTA consumers: it’s regularly acknowledged that they’re value-conscious, brand-agnostic shoppers who spend time searching online for the perfect hotel or holiday. Those things are true, and when it comes to attracting them to your hotel, the Expedia group can offer a little more insight.
OTA customers are tech savvy
Mobile bookings are consistently on the rise, with Asia Pacific users being the most mobile savvy. Overall, traffic to Expedia group sites via mobile devices accounts for ~40%, with more than 1 in 4 room nights booked on a mobile device.
In APAC, mobile bookings are even more common. One in three transactions are booked on a mobile device and nearly half (45%) of site traffic visits come through mobile platforms. While one in four Australians are booking via mobile, a staggering 60% of the online travel market in China comes through mobile platforms.
We also know that most people don’t shop just on the phone, they shop across devices and our data reveals that over half of all transactions have touched more than one device prior to booking4. Multi-device ownership is becoming the norm. Consumers are constantly connected to their phone, computer and tablet all at the same time, and their purchasing habits are reflecting this.
Expedia understands the need for hoteliers to target these tech-savvy travellers, and we are continuing to invest in this space (over AUD $1.3bn5) to ensure great mobile experiences for consumers and for our hotel partners to reach travellers in the way that they want to shop. As of December 31, 2015, Expedia mobile apps have been downloaded more than 130 million times, capturing a valuable digital audience who repeat business at about twice the rate of the average consumer.
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