Google, in partnership with global performance marketing engine Sojern, recently analyzed 350 million anonymized profiles to come up with insights into path to purchase behavior among travelers this year.
The report
think with Google suggests: “The reasons people travel haven't changed much from year to year, let alone from decade to decade. And yet the paths people travel
before they travel have been transformed.”
“Consumers increasingly turn to mobile to get itinerary ideas, compare flight fares, or reserve experiences. These moments are what we at Google call
micro-moments: decision points when a well-positioned brand can influence a consumer,” it further said.
YouTube has also become a go-to platform for travelers to get their trips right. According to the report, travelers go to the site for travel hacks that cover everything from packing techniques to staying healthy on a flight.
Specifically, Google said that searches for “travel hacks” on YouTube grew 115% year on year, with more than half of the searches coming from the mobile platform. Over the long term, search interest in the topic “travel hacks” peaked in July, up 16 times over the last four years.
Desktops continued to be the platform of choice for bookings and purchases (90%), but mobile is fast gaining adoption as a research platform. Google reported that travel related mobile queries outpaced those on desktops, especially during the weekends.
Mobile also dominated as the platform of choice during travel itself. According to Google data, 85% of leisure travelers decided what to do during their trip after they arrived at their destination. Meanwhile, around 50% of international travelers used their smartphones to find things to do upon arrival in their vacation spot.
