As the year draws to an end and travellers are planning to take their vacation break Sojern, a leading performance marketing platform for travel brands, takes a look at the planning patterns for Q3 and Q4 2016.
Its recently released Q3 Global Travel Insights report, based on the analysis of over one billion travel intent data points across the globe, reveals how travel is taking shape for the end of 2016.
According to the report, December is the month with the biggest departure days around the world. This is due, in large part, to holidays during the month including Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year. Airports, railways, and roads will be packed with people heading home or trying to get away.
Railway stations will be packed with travellers on break. (Image credit: Cerchi/iStock)
Globally, the most popular days that travellers have searched to fly are December 23 and 22, with both days as the top departure dates for nearly every region.
However, departure dates for different regions vary:
- Singapore has one of the earliest departure dates – December 1, 16 and 23.
- Mexicans are also early travellers, leaving on December 9 and 8.
- Japanese travellers prefer to travel on December 29, 28 and 30.
- The busiest days for departures in the US are December 23, 22 and 26.
- The Middle East and Africa also have earlier departure dates – December 15, 22 and 16
- European travellers depart closer to Christmas – December 23, 26 and 22
Sun, sea, sand
Beach getaways are the preferred choice of most global travellers especially for those from countries experiencing winter:
- For North Americans the top December destination in both 2015 and 2016 is Miami. Six of the top 10 destinations for 2016 are beaches.
- Travellers from Mexico City and Tijuana search for domestic beach destinations in December.
Beach destinations popular getaways for most global travellers. (Image credit: f9photos/iStock)
Geographical travel trends:
- Q3: Thailand features among the top 10 most popular destinations in the world, as well as in Asia Pacific in Q3 2016. This is followed by Singapore, Tokyo, London and Hong Kong.
- Q3: Travellers in Asia Pacific are relatively less spontaneous than travellers in other regions, with a majority search lead time of 60 days and above.
- Q4: Bangkok remains the top city for family travel from 2015 to 2016 for European travellers, while Bali is also popular among travellers from the Netherlands.
- Q4: Travellers from Australia show preference for long haul trips, especially in comparison to Japan and Singapore
- Q4: Most travellers in Asia Pacific tend to search and book travel in the early part of the week, but travel closer to the weekend.
The report also found that Friday was the most popular day searched for short-haul departures by European travellers in in Q3, with 25% of traveller interest.
In Q4 there was a sizable shift with 25% of short haul travellers looking to leave on Saturday compared with only 9% in the last quarter. Weekend departures account for nearly 60% of all searched departures in Q4.
North American travellers also show a shift in departure dates from Q3 to Q4. Wednesday departures for Q4 are at 14% (12% in Q3), attributed to travellers looking to fly out for Thanksgiving in November.
Download the full report here.
• Featured image credit: seamartini/iStock
