A unique view into the travel trends and preferences of leisure and business travelers around the world based on survey results of over 2,600 travelers in 80+ countries and more than 250,000 U.S. and global travel transactions.

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Global Travel
trends
What do you get when you put together the survey results of over 2,600 travelers in
80+ countries with the analytics from more than 250,000 U.S. and global travel
transactions on Last Minute Travel Club’s (a Travel Holdings, Inc. subsidiary) Last Minute Travel website?
You get a unique view into the travel trends and preferences of leisure and
business travelers around the world.
The Last Minute Travel 2013 Travel Trends Report was designed to provide insights into the travel
and tourism industry, including why people travel, their booking preferences, and more. Let’s take off!
KEY TRAVEleR FINDINGS
90%* of travelers
99%
said they prefer to book
of travelers said they take
trips online, compared to a
at least one personal
travel agent, mobile app or
trip per year, while
mobile web browser.
Just 2%
of travelers never
75% of travelers
52%
book a hotel when
said they have a hotel
budget of $150
business trip per year.
(53%) book hotels
or less per night.
said they take at least one
they travel. Over half
for more than
90% of their
trips.
Price (39%),
promotions (18%)
72% of travelers
and location (18%)
indicated they plan to
*Yes, we were also
surprised that only 90%
of the people we asked
on our travel website
said they preferred to
book their travel online.
are the three decision
factors that matter most
when booking a hotel.
travel for at least one
holiday this year.
WHY PEOPLE TRAVEL
BUSINESS vs. PERSONAL TRIPS
People travel more often for fun, than for work.
47%
BUSINESS
PERSONAL
And the remaining
48% don't take
business trips
37%
And the remaining
1% don't take
personal trips
9%
12%
30%
47%
48%
37%
12%
30%
9%
7%
7%
3%
1 - 3 Tr i p s
4 - 7 Tr i p s
8 - 1 0 Tr i p s
1 0 + Tr i p s
The impact of age
on travel
When are people’s peak traveling years?
And at what ages do people travel the most?
Personal Travel
As a person ages, they tend to take more frequent personal trips. 64% of those aged
65 or older take more than four personal trips per year. This is a minimum of
7% more than any other age group.
The correlation between age and number of personal trips likely results from more
expendable income and downtime as individuals get older.
Business Travel
People between the ages of 25-34 are most likely to travel for work,
with 62% going on at least one work-related trip annually. Business travel peaks for
people between the ages of 25-34, with only 23% of respondents over the age of
65--the standard retirement age–traveling for business every year.
NUMBER OF PERSONAL VS. BUSINESS
TRIPS BY AGE
None
1-3
4-7
8-10
10+
BUSINESS TRIPS PER YEAR
AGE
61%
18-24
30%
38%
25-34
35.1%
40%
35-44
45-54
10%
12%
6%
34%
45%
15%
30%
55-64
5%
6%
27%
56%
65+
12%
8%
77%
11%
5%
Less than 5%
Less than 5%
PERSONAL TRIPS PER YEAR
53%
18-24
25-34
49%
35-44
34%
32%
49%
9%
9%
5%
38%
9%
6%
40%
9%
6%
46%
10%
7%
43%
55-64
34%
65+
7%
4%
35%
45%
45-54
7%
Less than 2%
Preferred
vacation types
1. Rest and relaxation
beaches, pools, lounging
2. Sightseeing
museums, monuments,
historical sites
5. Sports/extreme
any trip relating to a
sporting event or extreme
sporting hobby
6. Time with nature
hiking, camping, canoeing
4. Play
theme parks and
water parks
3. Visit family/friends
trips to visit family and friends
7. Planned experience
volunteer work or
religious/mission-based trips
MOST POPULAR VACATIONS
1%
4%
4%
8. Staycation
any close-to-home trips
Rest & Relaxation
The two most popular types of
Sightseeing
vacations based on survey responses
10%
Visit Family/Friends
were rest and relaxation (39%)
and sightseeing trips (29%).
Play
39%
12%
Time with Nature
Sports/Extreme
29%
Planned Experience
Staycation
GENDER & VACATIONS
We’ve all heard the phrase: “Men are from Mars; women are
from Venus.” But do men and women prefer the same type of vacation?
TRAVEL TYPE BY GENDER
4%
1%
3% 1%
5%
9%
Rest & Relaxation
12%
39%
Sightseeing
39%
10%
Visit Family/Friends
13%
Play
31%
Time with Nature
28%
Sports/Extreme
MEN
Planned Experience
WOMEN
Staycation
According to our respondents, men and women are on the same
page when it comes to their preferred vacation. Both genders picked
rest and relaxation trips over all other types.
There are only slight differences between the sexes
when it comes to vacation types.
most popular
Destinations
TOP 10 TRAVEL
DESTINATIONS:
1. Las Vegas, Nevada
2. London, England
3. New York, New York
4. Paris, France
5. Miami, Florida
6. Orlando, Florida
7. Honolulu, Hawaii
8. Madrid, Spain
9. Berlin, Germany
10. Chicago, Illinois
2
10
1
3
6
9
4
8
5
7
HOLIDAY TRAVEL
‘MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!’
MOST FREQUENTLY TRAVELED HOLIDAYS
Travel has become a natural staple of
the holidays we love to celebrate. It’s no
secret that holidays tend to be among
the busiest travel periods each year.
Thanksgiving
9%
11%
The hype is justified. 72% of people
indicated that they plan to travel for at
least one holiday in the next 12 months.
19%
23%
11%
16%
Christmas
19%
16%
11%
11%
Christmas (23%)
Labor Day
11%
11%
9%
The top three holidays for travel includes:
Easter
Fourth of July
New Year’s
23%
16%
Memorial Day
Thanksgiving (19%)
New Year’s (16%)
The Hotel is the
heart of Travel
Hotels and motels are travelers’ number one choice for lodging.
PEOPLE WHO WILL BOOK A HOTEL THIS YEAR BY AGE
18-24
HOTEL
35-44
25-34
None
Less than 25%
45-54
55-64
26-60%
65+
61-89%
More than 90%
Age plays a small role in whether a traveler will book a hotel. Those under the age of 25 and those over
the age of 65 are the least likely to book a hotel when they travel. For both age ranges, 18% book a hotel
less than 25% of the time, or never at all. Anecdotally, we see both groups stay more
often with relatives, the under 25s with adults, and the over 65s with children and grandchildren.
HOTEL BRANDS DON’T MATTER
Despite the millions of dollars hotels spend each year on brand marketing, just 4% of travelers choose their hotel based on
its brand. This, in combination with how important price is to choosing a hotel, explains why the popularity of opaque
hotel booking sites like LASTMINUTETRAVEL.COM are soaring. What’s an opaque hotel? An opaque hotel is one
which does not reveal its name, but instead uses a description like “three-star motel in Union Square” until it is booked.
TOP REASONS HOTELS ARE BOOKED
Amenities
Hotel Chain/Brand
4% 4%
Price (39%), promotions
Location
(18%) and location (18%)
Price
are the three decision factors
that matter most to customers
Promotions/Deals
17%
39%
when booking a hotel.
Reviews/Referrals
This means that more than
half of the respondents
18%
(57%) book based on a
price-related factor—either price
18%
itself or a promotion.
Price is a consistent factor among all age groups too—
making it the most powerful deciding factor when booking a hotel.
Hotel budgets Vs.
Actual Money Spent
BUDGETED
79% of people said
they have a hotel budget
of $150 or less.
96% of people said
they have a hotel budget
of $250 or less.
T
NO B
O TUR
D S
DI
$150
$250
SPENT
AVERAGE SPENT PER NIGHT WHEN BOOKING ACCOMMODATIONS:
1%
Survey reponses match actual
4%
bookings. LastMinuteTravel.com
Less than $75
15%
booking data shows that the
average daily rate of a hotel is
$76-$150
$134, and the average total price for
$151-$250
the entire trip is $310. In looking at
21%
$251-$400
LastMinuteTravel.com hotel bookings,
$400+
60%
91% had a daily rate of $250
or less in the last 12 months.
BOOKING PREferences
There is a HUGE difference between what people think they are doing,
and what they are actually doing. People book more last
minute travel than they realize. Here’s what’s really happening.
HOW FAR IN ADVANCE ARE TRIPS BOOKED?
WHAT PEOPLE THINK:
WHAT PEOPLE DO:
No one likes feeling unprepared, especially
when it comes to planning and booking trips.
Yet, booking data suggests otherwise:
50% of travelers book their flight
7 days or less before their trip
69% SAY they book 1month in advance
HOTEL
50% of travelers book their hotel 15 days
23% SAY they book 3 months in advance
or less before their trip
PREFERED WAY TO BOOK BY AGE
We live in a digital age. We connect to friends and family online.
We bank online. We even buy and trade stocks online.
The same digital trend applies to travel bookings.
PREFERED METHOD OF BOOKING
AGES:
18-24
25-34
8%
6%
6
5
55-64
10%
8
4%
5%
4
3
2%
2
2%
65+
6
4%
4
4%
2%
2%
2
1%
0
1%
0
OFFLINE
MOBILE APP
6%
5
45-54
10%
7
1
35-44
100%
5%
5%
95
91%
4%
4
90
89% 90%
3%
3
85
2%
2
92% 92%
85%
80
1
1%
0
75
MOBILE WEB
ONLINE
The overwhelming majority (90%) of people said they prefer to book trips online. But the older someone is,
the more likely they are to book offline. The younger someone is, the more likely they are to book using a
mobile app or mobile web browser.
STrategies to snag the
best hotel priCe
We know that price is the number one factor when making a decision
on which hotel to book. Knowing where and how to search online can
greatly improve the odds of finding the best hotel rates available.
Here are a few useful tips to find the best bargains.
Hotel rates can vary based on time of year, day of the week and vacancy.
If your calendar permits a bit of flexibility, try looking for hotels during
slower, less popular seasons.
Be Flexible with
Travel Dates
$£¥€
Consider shopping for an opaque hotel deal. While you won’t know
which hotel you are booking until it’s booked, you will get a lower price,
and can compare locations and star-ratings.
Book by Price,
Not Brand
JOIN
Travel club memberships, such as Last Minute Travel’s LMTCLUB.COM,
can save you a considerable amount of money. Most club memberships
offer exclusive hotel rates.
Sign Up for Club
Memberships
Even if you originally did not consider pairing a hotel with a flight or a
rental car, some package deals offer better discounts than what you
would get by booking them separately.
Consider
Package Deals
Source:
LMTCLUB.COM, 2013 Global Travel Trends Report,
November 2013.
Download your free copy HERE.
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when you book hotels?
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