According to a data-driven traveller engagement platform, Sojern, perennial hotspots Malaysia and Thailand saw a decline in inbound tourism, potentially due to political upheaval, and Japan saw a dramatic increase in flight searches from Chinese travellers (+50% increase over Q2).

 

Global sporting events and festivals had a major impact on tourism. Flight searches to Brazil for the World Cup more than doubled month over month. Similarly, this year’s Incheon Games increased interest in tourism to South Korea by nearly 20%. Germany’s world-famous Oktoberfest attracted a large volume of international tourists, most notably from the U.S. and Italy. Munich saw a 38% increase in overall flight searches during Oktoberfest.

 

Overall, the most searched destinations were the U.S., Spain, the U.K., France, Turkey, China, Russia, Germany, Italy, and Greece.

 

Sojern released its Q3 Global Travel Insights Report based on the rigorous analysis of more than 600m traveller intent data points across the globe. The report reveals that burgeoning tourism markets and recent world events have reshaped the current state of global travel.

 

NYC: MOST-SEARCHED DESTINATION

“Through our strategic partnerships with dozens of top global travel brands, we are able to glean valuable insights on travel behaviour throughout the world,” said Mark Rabe, CEO at Sojern. “These insights prove vital to helping our customers reach, convert and retain travellers as they progress through the purchase funnel.”

 

In the US, New York City was the most-searched destination for European travellers, while NYC and Miami were the most popular researched destinations for Latin American travellers.

 

Asia-Pacific travellers were most interested in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Americans most frequently searched for Miami, NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Overall, most foreigners traveling to North America take longer trips than when visiting other countries; 64% of foreign traveller’s searched for trips with duration of six days or more.

 

The most popular European destinations were London, Paris, Barcelona, and Mallorca. For solo, group, and family travellers from the U.K., Spain was the most popular destination. The U.K. and the Netherlands shared the top spot for planning summer holidays in advance. Nearly a third of all trips (29%) were planned 101 days or more in advance. With many tourists traveling to neighbouring countries for the weekend, short trips made up over a third of all European searches (39%).

 

 

Foreign travellers visiting Asia were largely interested in staying for an extended period of time and were most frequently looking to travel from the U.S. or the EU. Tourists looking to stay eight days or more comprised 47% of all flight searches to the region. China’s August holiday greatly contributed to trip searches from regional travellers; Chinese tourists made up over 15% of searches in August from domestic travellers. Asia-Pacific also saw 81% of inbound searches for solo travel, the highest of any region.

 

The report showed that Mexico and Brazil are becoming increasingly popular travel destinations from burgeoning markets such as China. Flight searches from China to Mexico increased 48% from Q2 to Q3. Mexico and Brazil’s domestic populations travelled globally on a much larger scale than other countries in the region, likely due to higher GDPs. Spain was a popular destination due to the country’s shared language and culture. Destinations in Mexico, particularly vacation hotspots like Cancun, were very popular for North American tourists. LATAM also saw the highest percentage of flight searches for couples (20%).