Travel Technology Show 2007
Travel websites have a maximum of six-and-a-half minutes to secure a booking, with average conversion rates standing at one in 200 visitors.
Research by web analyst firm Nedstat and travel technology consultancy Genesys found conversion rates slipped dramatically for lengths of stays over the six-and-a-half minute period. The average number of page impressions for the top four sites stood at 4.5, which kept them well below that time.
The average conversion rate stood at 0.66% – meaning it takes nearly 200 unique visitors to secure one booking.
Nedstat managing consultant Steve Wind-Mozley added the worst performing site has a conversion rate of half the average, while the best site conversion rate was around 2% – more than three times the average.
Almost one in three visitors bounced straight off the sites – meaning they did not click on a second page. The worst performing site saw almost half its traffic – 46% – click away without viewing another page, while the best site had a ‘bounce rate’ of only 11%.
The research also found more bookings come from direct entries – consumers going straight to the site – than from search engine referrals. One site received 56% of all visitors direct.
The research monitored 10 travel sites for the six months from July to December 2006 for the launch of the biannual report on key online performance indicators to help Internet firms benchmark their effectiveness.
In total the 10 sites, which receive between 200,000 and 30 million visitors a year, received 41 million hits and 200 million page impressions during the six-month period. Nedstat’s travel clients include Bales Worldwide, Kuoni and First Choice.
The full report including analysis by Genesys is published next month.