Desktop still dominates over mobile for travel search

Although mobile penetration and usage continues to grow, travelers in most parts of the world are still doing their searching and price comparison on desktop.

That’s one of the findings in Sojern’s latest Global Travel Insights report, with analysis of global data from the second quarter of 2018. Sojern says brands can use the booking behavior data to fine-tune the timing and content of marketing messages.

North America travelers are the most likely to turn to their desktop computer to search for travel (72%), with Asia Pacific (67%) and Latin American (64%) travelers next on the list.

“Even with mobile devices nearing global saturation, we continue to see that travel planning search volume remains desktop-heavy,” says Jackie Lamping, vice president of marketing at Sojern.

“While there’s clear evidence that mobile is playing an increasing role in the dreaming and inspiration phases of trip planning - mostly driven through social sharing on Facebook and Instagram - travelers still come back to their desktop in order to research options in more detail, compare prices and ultimately arrive at a confident decision."

Two regions are showing a shift to mobile. In the second quarter, 53% of searches from European travelers happened on a mobile device, and 52% occurred on mobile in the Middle East and Africa.

Going solo

In the second quarter of this year, the majority of searches from all regions were for solo trips. Seventy-one percent of travelers from the Middle East and Africa searched for options for just one traveler. That number dropped slightly, to 69%, for North American searches, 67% for Latin American, 63% for Asia Pacific and 53% for European searches.

And while Sojern says solo trips also dominate searches for travel in the third quarter, its data shows an uptick in interest in trips with at least two people for regional travel in North America, Latin America and Europe. In the Middle East and Africa, Sojern finds increased interest in group travel of three or more people for travel in July through September.

Planning patterns

Travelers in most regions begin their research well in advance, giving marketers ample time to capture their attention.

Nearly half - 45% - of travel searches in Asia Pacific started more than 60 days out from the departure during the first quarter of 2018. Travelers in Europe and Latin America are also planning ahead - with 43% and 42%, respectively, searching 60 days out.

In North America, only 30% of searches took place that far in advance, but more than half - 51% - were done at least one month out. Pre-planning was least common in the Middle East and Africa, where only 25% of searches began 60 days in advance.