British holidaymakers search Google for ‘packages’ in July

Search queries are increasingly aligned with holiday periods, claims the latest research from Google. 

The Searching For Sun study reveals a surge in queries post Easter coinciding with the school holidays and reaching a peak in the seven days to 12 April. A 39% growth in queries year-on-year was recorded during the period.  

However, according to Google the surge was a missed opportunity for the industry because it was not met with the corresponding investment. 

The search giant predicts July will once again be the highest query month in line with 2007’s figures. 

It also highlights that queries on packages outperformed the travel sector as a whole in July 2007. 

Both Paris and Barcelona retained their popularity year-on-year in terms of destinations being searched although long-haul regions are showing consistent growth despite economic concerns.  

Queries for both North America and the Middle East showed the strongest growth with an increase of 20%. 

The research also shows potential opportunity in August when monthly cost-per-click is lower than January, so while CPC’s are declining throughout the summer queries and ad clicks remain high because people are nearer the purchasing decision.