Travellers are turning to search engines when looking for hotels or information about destinations, with the majority turning to Google as their most common source of travel inspiration.
Guest feedback platform TrustYou reveals 77% of travellers search for accommodation and/or locations, while 57% find hotels, 49% look for a location and 31% seek a combination of both.
The findings are from a study by TrustYou on travellers’ online search and booking behaviour. The survey was conducted among 920 consumers over the age of 18 who have traveled and booked an accommodation online within the past 12 months.
Some key findings of the study:
- 91% of travellers turn to search engines when looking for a place to stay with the majority (81%) preferring to use Google as their most common source of travel inspiration.
- A hotel’s TrustScore, or average review rating score, is the second most important factor affecting the booking decision after a hotel’s nightly rate. 88% of travellers sorted out hotels with a TrustScore under three stars, and 32% eliminated those with a TrustScore under four stars.
- Tracing click-through on a Google’s hotel listing showed 20% of travellers are most likely to click on the direct link to the hotel’s website, with 10% very likely to click on review data provided by TrustYou.
Google is the most common source of travel inspiration for most travellers (Image credit: Prykhodov/iStock)
TrustYou suggested hoteliers should consider their presence on Google within their marketing strategies as most travellers turn to it for travel inspiration, beginning with their accommodation search and evaluating offerings between multiple hotels.
“Booking behaviour continues to be influenced by online reviews and ranking systems. We have seen a very clear parallel between what is shared in published reviews and consumer decisions over and over again,” said Benjamin Jost, co-founder and chief executive officer of TrustYou.
“Hotels around the globe can utilise findings from our study to dramatically improve guest satisfaction, direct booking and profitability.”
Download the full report and findings here.
• Featured image credit: Gajus/iStock
