July 19th, 2021, Hoang Nguyen, Cheryl Kar
Social, cultural, and environmental consciousness is growing in the travel industry with travelers looking to leave a positive impact on the destinations they visit.
Tourism with a focus on sustainability has been on the rise for several years and in our new global Travel & Tourism whitepaper, YouGov examines a key audience driving this type of travel: Responsible Travelers. This group of travelers tend to be environmentally and culturally conscious of their travel behaviors and will also vacation with wellness in mind.
New data from YouGov Global Travel Profiles, which tracks consumer attitudes and behaviors toward travel on a daily basis, reveals that 12% of travelers globally fit this audience
The data shows that while it’s younger age cohorts in markets such as the US and the UAE who are more likely to describe themselves as Responsible Travelers, in places such as France, it’s older consumers who are more likely to identify themselves in this way. The variation in Responsible Travelers by market is important to note and YouGov’s continuous travel monitoring can help inform travel brands and agents on the core demographics that make up this type of traveler
in each market..
The top types of ads that catch the attention of Responsible Travelers
Many businesses in the travel industry are now paving their way towards sustainability and building out their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policies to get noticed by Responsible Travelers. But, when it comes to advertising, which channels can travel marketers use to catch their attention?
Our data reveals that when it comes to travel advertisements, Responsible Travelers consider social media most effective in grabbing their attention (41%). Travel websites (31%), online streaming services (30%), billboards (25%) and free-to-view channels on TV (25%) rank second, third, fourth and fifth respectively.
However, unlike global data, advertisements on social media may not always be an eye-catcher for Responsible Travelers in specific markets. This includes France and Germany where travel websites and hardcopy versions of local/regional newspapers, respectively, perform better.
In the US, it’s worth noting that free-to-view channels (25%) come a close second to social media when targeting Responsible Travelers (26%). In France, free-to-view channels (41%) are not too far behind travel websites (43%).
In the Asian market, social media travel advertisements emerge as most effective in targeting responsible travelers, specifically in the UAE (43%), India (50%) and Australia (40%). However, there are differences to be noted when it comes to other advertising mediums. For example, while streaming services are important in India (36%), this medium may not perform as effectively when targeting responsible travelers in UAE (21%) and Australia (21%).
As many countries across the world continue to lift lockdown restrictions, consumers will gain greater exposure to out-of-home (OOH) advertising. The data suggests that these ads work well in drawing the attention of Responsible Travelers. Cinema (32%) and billboards ads (31%) are nearly as effective as social media in capturing the eyes of this audience in Australia and the UAE, and it’s possible that as the world reopens further, we will see a rebound in both the scale and the value of OOH advertising to these potential customers
Download YouGov’s International Travel & Tourism 2021 report here
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Methodology: The data from YouGov Global Travel Profiles is based on the interviews of 2428 adults aged 18 and over (201 in the US, 104 in France, 219 in Germany, 152 in UAE, 233 in India, 113 in Australia). Interviews were carried out online on a daily basis since October 2020 and results have been weighted to be nationally representative (in India, results are representative of the urban population).