January 31st, 2023, Bhavika Bansal
With global travel appetite at its highest since the start of the pandemic, 2023 looks promising for both domestic and international travel. While more than three-fifths of global consumers (63%) plan to take a leisure trip in the next 12 months, more than a quarter (27%) are planning at least three or more trips during this period. It can be beneficial, then, for travel service providers to get an insight into how leisure travelers planning to take domestic and/or international trips over the next 12 months typically plan and organize their holidays.
Data from YouGov Global Travel Profiles reveals that (random) online searches are the most popular method of planning a holiday for more than two-fifths of travelers globally (43%) - a sentiment shared by almost half of the travelers in the American (49%) and European (49%) markets.
Information from friends and/or family is the second most relied upon holiday planning method for travelers across international markets (Americas, 44%; APAC, 43%; Europe, 39%; MENA, 42%).
Interestingly, while the top spot is occupied by social media platforms in the APAC (45%) and MENA (48%) markets, they are far less prevalent in the Americas (24%) and Europe (15%)
More than a third of APAC travelers (34%) and more than a quarter of MENA travelers (28%) generally use information from travel blogs compared to less than one-fifth of travelers in the Americas and Europe (18% each).
Similarly, destination marketing organizations and information from dedicated online forums are more popular in APAC (27% and 26% respectively) and MENA (25% and 19% respectively) than they are in American (18% and 13% respectively) and European (16% and 15% respectively) markets.
On the other hand, information from specialized travel shopping websites is a far more popular holiday planning method amongst European travelers (26%) than amongst travelers in APAC (22%), American (20%), and MENA (17%) markets.
Data from Global Travel Profiles on how travelers who intend to take a domestic and/or international leisure trip over the next 12 months generally organize their holidays also reveals some interesting nuances.
Much like in the case of more than six out of ten travelers (68%) globally, self-organized holidays are the most popular option amongst travelers in the Americas (74%), APAC (65%), Europe (80%), and MENA (58%).
Group organized travel on the other hand, finds more takers in the APAC (27%) and MENA (31%) markets than in the Americas (15%) and Europe (10%).
Similarly, part-organized ,part-not holidays are preferred more by travelers in APAC and MENA (22% and 17% respectively) than by travelers in the Americas and Europe (14% each).
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Methodology: YouGov Global Travel Profiles is a globally consistent audience dataset based on rolling surveys and continuously collected data from adults - aged 16+ in China and 18+ in other markets - across 25 key travel markets. The sample sizes for this study vary between 5,334 and 12,923 for each region. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from India and UAE, which use urban representative samples, and China, Egypt, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Global Travel Profiles.
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