‍

YouGov are the leader on data accuracy and one of the most quoted sources of data globally. They uniquely cover all industry verticals, where they can learn and transfer best practice of research from one vertical to another, allowing a 360-degree view of the industry, transferring knowledge between different capabilities and verticals.

Eva starts out by looking at some of the key challenges clients are facing today and how important it is to understand the effects of those external factors affecting the travel industry.

YouGov's data is all about having connected data that allows marketers to explore, plan, activate and track. Crucially, what is important is to be able to track changes in the market and incorporate them into strategies, ensuring the impact is always effective, basing insights on travel sentiment down to the specific geographic areas targeting and understanding through connected data, in near-real time, their motivations, hesitations and drivers.

Starting out with exploring the broad environment, Eva talks about some of the key questions being asked such as "has travel peaked?", "are we likely to see continuous growth?", "where is demand going to come from?" etc.

Sharing an optimistic view, Eva explains that consumers are feeling more positive about their household economic situation, despite the economic challenges which are much talked about. Despite increasing challenges, there has been no squeeze in demand, yet price sensitivity has peaked and this now represents one of the primary concerns of consumers. This is the case even in markets which have traditionally not been price sensitive.

‍

‍

Taking the example of the UK market, we can see that the price of travel is one of the growing concerns, whereas concerns related to health and travel restrictions have significantly dropped. It means that whilst sentiment is strong, hesitations are significant, meaning the industry needs to focus on value and deals, which help to alleviate these concerns.

Despite a slowdown of 5-6% at the end of October, amongst a domestic climate of uncertainty, this sentiment picks up once again. Eva talks about her conversations with major GDS's, who have major concerns about the future, likewise those working in financial forecasting, yet demand just doesn't seem to be declining.

‍

‍

Things Have Changed

Eva explains that travel has changed and whilst disposable income is an important driver.

Looking at the UK market, it is clear that luxury travellers still have the highest propensity for travel, noting that this is also a relatively small market size. Looking at the next opportunity, adventure travellers also show similar propensity, yet represent a much larger market.

When looking at YouGov data, it is clear that the market size for adventure travel is significant and given the continuing demand it should not be overlooked. She talks about the fact that if we look at the profile of adventure travellers, they are constantly on the outlook for new experiences.

The data also shows that for this type of traveller, 53% are likely to book a vacation or short break in advance, whilst fewer are likely to book last-minute deals.

Beauty, historical and cultural factors are key drivers for these travellers and should therefore form a central component to brand messaging if we follow the data.

There's also a surprising retention of interest in city breaks when looking at the data and whilst the traditional view of a city break may differ slightly, the wider offer and how adventure, nature and exploration form part of that city break offer may be a significant appeal.

Eva goes on to compare adventure travellers looking at Canada vs. Dubai. The results are very different in terms of influence. Travel websites, information from friends and family and music all peak for Canada, whilst social media, recommendations and comedy are the key drivers of those considering Dubai.

If you want to be in front of the Dubai audience, for example, collaboration with key influencers and those covering topics such as comedy, music and film will likely show the best results.

Eva explains that marketers may have a tendency to segment with nuance, but this also risks too heavily diluted media planning where pitfalls exist. To get the best return on investment, think about the broader drivers that can drive results in terms of ad-targeting, the topics and interests which allow you to impact with scale, rather than break up your audience into segments which are just too small.

Looking at how destinations rank in this key topic of adventurous travellers, we can see that those with a strong reputation also offer quality and value for money. Looking at a chart mapping out destinations, we can see that Dubai, whilst perceived as quality, fares poorly amongst adventure travellers on both quality and reputation, whilst destinations like Canada are at the other end of the scale.

We can also see with Canada that the general perception of the destination is significantly higher compared to the general population. Reputation is also formed with a strong emphasis on recommendations, where Canada demonstrates far higher recommendation scores than other destinations.

All of this once again points to the importance of understanding who the audiences are in order to convert and drive interest and ultimately bookings by touching on those key factors driving decisions.