The Next 6-12 Months will Signal a lot about the Health of Online Travel
December 4, 2009 by webmaster
Filed under Technology
With the PhocusWright conference wrapping up in Orlando, key executives from around the country are looking for signs that the travel marketplace is improving (or not). Read about key take-aways from this year’s event.
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PhoCusWright Predicts Decline in Online Bookings
April 27, 2009 by webmaster
Filed under Technology
PhoCusWright revealed updated market numbers from PhoCusWright’s U.S. Online Travel Overview: Update 2009-2010 in a webinar held April 23. The online leisure/unmanaged business travel market is projected to decline 3 percent to $93 billion in 2009. This marks the first time since PhoCusWright began tracking the marketplace in 1998 that online travel has fallen year-over-year. Representing more than one third of the total travel marketplace, the online leisure/unmanaged business travel market is now more or less mature and far more susceptible to broader swings in the economy and the total travel marketplace.
While online travel will decline in 2009, PhoCusWright will still far outperform the broader travel market and return to positive growth much sooner. With the recession in full swing and leisure and corporate travelers alike pulling back, the total U.S. travel market will decline 11 percent in 2009 to approximately $241 billion. This returns the total market to pre-2006 levels, when U.S. travel supplier revenue reached $251 billion. The drag on the total travel market is driven primarily by an even sharper decline in the corporate travel and groups and meetings markets.
“The travel industry has been experiencing significant declines in both traveler demand and revenue since the financial crisis unfolded, but not all travelers—and not all segments of travel—have been affected in the same way,” said Douglas Quinby, PhoCusWright’s senior director of research. “Companies mapping their strategies for 2009 and beyond must understand how different segments of the traveler population are responding to current economic conditions and the impact those responses will have on both product selection and booking channel.”
The newly released PhoCusWright’s U.S. Online Travel Overview: Update 2009-2010 delivers revised market sizing and forecasts for the U.S. total and online travel markets (including segmentation by travel product category and channel), in-depth analysis of shifting online travel agency and supplier website dynamics, and discussion of the traveler segments that will be traveling less—and more—in 2009. The Update 2009-2010 is included in PhoCusWright’s Research Subscription: Global Edition.
Consumer segmentation is critical to understanding the significant changes the industry will undergo in the upcoming year. PhoCusWright’s Consumer Travel Report Part One: Behavioral Trends examines U.S. traveler intentions for 2009 by describing the changes they plan to make in comparison to 2008. The findings highlight just how differently various segments of travelers are adjusting their trip behaviors in 2009, and what the industry can expect in terms of shift in consumer demand. PhoCusWright’s Consumer Travel Report Part Two: Psychographic Trends relates traveler behavior to psychographic attitudes and values and will be released in May. Introductory pricing is available through April 28. The two parts are available separately or packaged together and are also included in the Global Edition. For more information, visit www.phocuswright.com.
Adventure Central Acquired by AdventureLink
March 20, 2009 by webmaster
Filed under Technology
AdventureLink, Inc. announced the acquisition of its key competitor, Denver – based Adventure Central Inc., in an all-stock transaction. In addition, Allegis Capital, the largest investor in Adventure Central, has backed AdventureLink with an additional investment.
AdventureLink is the largest online source for booking adventure travel, worldwide, while Adventure Central is the dominant supplier of single day adventure trips. The acquisition brings these two, leading, online travel companies together creating the most comprehensive online source for finding and booking adventure travel.
The combined companies now represent over 60,000 trips and activities sourced from nearly 1,800 suppliers in 165 countries, enabling consumers and travel agents to easily find, learn about and book some of the planet’s most memorable and authentic travel experiences.
AdventureLink CEO Kelly Tompkins states, “Adventure Central is a natural fit for AdventureLink, adding a broad range of day trips to our existing multi-day portfolio. Our objective with this inventory is to forge partnerships with hoteliers, web affiliates, and others interested in utilizing our affiliate system to sell day or multi-day adventure trips.”
Peter Bodine, managing director at Allegis Capital, says the combining of these top adventure travel companies creates a comprehensive source for anyone looking to find, review, or book their next great adventure trip.
“Our firm is extremely bullish on the Adventure Travel sector,” says Bodine, “and AdventureLink represented one of the most attractive ways to monetize the further growth of Adventure Travel on the web.”
In February, AdventureLink announced its launch of the world’s first online booking system for adventure travel developed in conjunction with its partner, VAX VacationAccess. The AdventureLink system opens up booking capability for adventure travel opportunities worldwide providing easy access and distribution to over 70,000 leisure travel agents across North America.
Also in February, AdventureLink announced the completion of ‘Series A’ funding with top Southern California venture capital firms Anthem Venture Partners (www.anthemvp.com) and The Mail Room Fund (www.mailroomfund.com).
With the acquisition, Adventure Central will relocate to AdventureLink’s L.A. headquarters and AdventureLink will continue to maintain the AdventureCentral.com website and other Adventure Central affiliate partners’ sites.
PhoCusWright debunks Online Travel Myths
September 19, 2008 by webmaster
Filed under Technology
Myth #1: The number of online travel buyers in the U.S. is declining. In fact, that number is on the rise, as documented in The Consumer Travel Trends Tenth Edition recently published by PhoCusWright Inc. In 2007, approximately 70% of online travelers (that is, adults who have taken a commercial air trip and stayed at a hotel for leisure in the past year, and used the Internet in the past 30 days) bought travel online, compared to 63% in 2006.
PhoCusWright dispelled this piece of misinformation-and debunked five additional online travel myths-at its first-ever Analyst Forum, held September 10 in New York City.
In addition to the misconception that online travel buyers are declining, The PhoCusWright Analyst Forum corrected these five other online travel myths:
2. More and more online travel shoppers use supplier sites than online travel agencies. While this belief is widespread in the travel industry, it is simply untrue, according to PhoCusWright, the travel industry research firm. In terms of popularity, online travel agencies are making a comeback (source: The PhoCusWright Consumer Travel Trends Survey Tenth Edition or “CTTS10″).
3. Travel agencies are experiencing a resurgence as travelers return to traditional purchasing channels. Not so. In reality, even many formerly exclusive offline buyers are migrating online for travel shopping and buying, according to CTTS10.
4. The next generation of travelers prefers to do everything online. The truth is, less than half of what 18-28 year olds spend on travel is spent online, according to The NEXTgen Traveler™ report, jointly published by PhoCusWright and Ypartnership.
5. Social networks and travel reviews have the greatest influence on travel decision-making. The NEXTgen Traveler™ report reveals that while social media is widespread, destination Web sites and online travel agencies are favored by nearly half of next generation travelers during the travel shopping process.
6. Online travel markets need high credit card and Internet penetration to succeed. The structure and ambitions of the travel marketplace are even more important drivers than infrastructure. Case in point is India, one of the most dynamic online travel marketplaces today, where roughly 98% of the population does not use credit cards or have access to the Internet.
The sold-out Analyst Forum provided attendees with a clearer understanding of the realities of the online travel marketplace, offering facts, figures and insights for strategic planning and decision-making, especially as attendees find themselves engaged in 2009 budget planning.
“Nobody wants to make strategic errors based on bad information,” said Lorraine Sileo, vice president, research for PhoCusWright. “Through this Analyst Forum, we were able to educate attendees about online travel myths and the realities in consumer behavior and to paint a picture of the new distribution landscape so that they can better assess their channel partners, such as travel agencies.”
PhoCusWright’s Analyst Forum will continue to take place on a quarterly basis in New York City featuring research and analysis on a variety of travel, tourism and hospitality topics.
