Nearly half of affluent American travelers prefer visiting travel service providers’ websites to those of online travel agencies (OTAs), says a survey by market research firm MMGY Global.
Half of affluent travelers say that travel service providers’ sites offer the greatest convenience and the best prices.
Among well-to-do travelers, nearly a fifth books through travel service provider sites. Roughly one fourth of them books by phone with a travel service provider. Less than a third of affluent travelers books via OTAs.
UPDATE: MMGY Global clarifies:
A travel service provider is a business that primarily provides travel services - such as airlines, car rentals, hotels, resorts, traditional travel agents, tour package providers, tour guides, etc. Service providers that involve travel but not primarily, such as taxis or restaurants, are not included.
The behavior is in stark contrast with travelers who have middle class incomes, who roundly prefer using OTAs.
The MMGY Global survey conducted in February 2014 and published today was of 1,250 active travelers with an annual household income of $125,000 or more. Half were between $125,000 and $249,999, and half were above that level.
Upscale needs: Exclusive, custom, bespoke
Affluent travelers' favorite source of travel inspiration and advice -- after family and friends -- is print travel magazines.
About 40% of affluent travelers use travel magazines at the idea and planning stage. About 30% rely on the advertisements in those magazines. Newspapers, guidebooks, online materials, destination websites, TV -- all came in significantly lower.
More than 30% of affluent travelers visited a TripAdvisor-style user-generated site or blog during the past year for information about a destination or a travel service provider.
Among these online researchers, 75% said they prefered to read individual reviews rather than rely on a rating alone. Only one in five of them said they trusted online reviews more than the opinions of their friends and family.
High-priced trips
The affluent market is a rich vein to tap for travel agencies. Travelers who earn $250,000 or more annually took an average of 6.2 leisure trips in 2013.
That's "significantly more" than the 4.7 vacations on average taken by those with an annual household income between $125,000 – $249,999 last year, says MMGY Global.
For related insights, see Google's take on affluent travellers: trip planning, videos and multi-screen
NB: Image of waiter via Shutterstock