As the dust settles on the busy period, Adido’s Andy Headington crunches the numbers to discover what they tell us about the latest trends
After all the reports and updates surrounding peaks, the good news is that from what I’ve seen, read and heard, it was largely a positive period for travel. Overall searches were up 3% year-on-year and the industry has shown resilience and growth in several key sectors.
Looking at some of the headline findings, country-specific holiday searches grew by 13%. For instance, South Korea saw a remarkable 175% surge in searches, as holidaymakers continue to seek out new destinations.
Thailand, Japan and Egypt each saw 50% increases in high-volume search terms.
Total cruise-related searches across hundreds of tracked phrases increased by 5%, with much of the growth driven by interest in river cruises and itineraries taking in Europe and Asia, suggesting that today’s cruise travellers are searching with more specific destinations in mind.
For example, ‘Norwegian cruises’ were up 22%, ‘Panama Canal cruise’ up 83% and ‘Japan cruise’ by 174%.
River cruise terms are very much on the up, too, demonstrating continued strong growth in that part of the market.
Other locations have also come back into fashion include ‘Sweden holidays’, up 50% to 8,100 searches this year, and ‘Qatar holidays’, jumping up 49% to 22,200.
The losers
Package holidays declined by 12%, with all-inclusive searches driving the downturn. However, it’s worth highlighting that certain Mediterranean destinations saw a comeback.
Greece, Majorca and Cyprus all experienced renewed interest in package deals with searches up for all around 20% year on year, bucking the general downward trend.
Elsewhere, ‘escorted tours’ saw a surprising 56% drop, while in terms of destinations, ‘Barcelona holidays’ in particular struggled, with a 45% decrease coinciding with the ongoing protests. And in recent times we’ve raved about Albania, thanks to its impressive growth in search interest and visitor numbers.
However, for the first time in several years, this popular Balkan destination didn’t feature in the top 10 search increases, with demand remaining flat year-on-year. Malta showed a similar pattern.
Meanwhile, certain types of UK holidays showed some signs of slowing down with generic searches for ‘adventure’ and ‘activity holidays’ dropping by roughly a third this January.
Looking ahead
It cannot be denied there is plenty of positive momentum in travel, although we are seeing clear shifts in traveller preferences.
Specific destinations and experiences are trumping generic searches, and some previously hot markets are cooling off.
The coming months will reveal whether these trends represent the new normal or merely a temporary shift.
But one thing’s for sure – travellers are getting more adventurous, and the trade must keep pace with their ever-evolving wish lists.