SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today released its annual Digital Index Travel Report, which reveals the best times to book airfare and hotels, top destinations, total online travel spend, consumer buying behaviors across devices and more. The report analyzed more than 15 billion visits across major U.S. travel, airline and hotel sites between 2013 and 2015 and more than three million social media mentions. Consumers are expected to spend $65 billion online on travel between Memorial Day and Labor Day, seven percent more than in 2014. Twenty percent of travel bookings are now coming from smartphones and tablets, over six percent more than last year. The analysis also shows that Washington D.C. tops the list of U.S. travel destinations followed by Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas and San Francisco.
Adobe’s annual travel report provides the most comprehensive set of travel insights in the industry and is based on aggregated and anonymous data from Adobe Marketing Cloud. Pricing details are based on booking transactions, which ensures highly accurate predictions. The report analyzed traffic and sales across major U.S. travel, airline and hotel sites including seven of the top ten airlines and eight of the top ten hotel chains. Adobe also conducted a complementary survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers who plan to travel this summer.
“Adobe expects summer travel spending to increase to $65 billion this year,” said Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst, Adobe Digital Index. “Mobile devices are now the source of 20 percent of online travel spending. Mobile is hot and so are Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and New York, the top three U.S. summer travel destinations of 2015.”
Key report findings include:
- Total spend on travel continues to increase: U.S. consumers are expected to spend $65 billion online on summer travel this year. Overall prices for flights decreased four percent year-over-year (YoY) while hotel prices rose by five percent on average. Based on survey responses, 32 percent of consumers anticipate paying more on travel. Respondents expect to spend $2,788 on average, with 57 percent of that being online.
- Top destinations: Based on the number of bookings and social media buzz, Washington, D.C. tops the list of travel destinations in the U.S. Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas and San Francisco round out the top five. London, Paris, and Rome lead in social buzz for those traveling to Europe. Data shows that February offers the best deals for flights and hotels in New York City, while September offers the lowest hotel prices for Hawaii and Orlando.
- Smartphone travel bookings surpass tablets: Data shows that travel companies have further optimized their sites for mobile while more and more consumers use larger screen smartphones. One in every five dollars spent now comes from smartphones and tablets, an increase of more than six percent YoY. And more consumers are booking trips via smartphones than tablets for the first time.
- Best booking times vary for summer holidays: Flights for the Fourth of July weekend should be booked on May 23 for the highest discount of 21 percent, while budget hotels should be reserved on June 20 to save up to 20 percent. Labor Day offers the least expensive flights and hotels compared to other summer holidays. Flights should be booked on July 21 for discounts between 17 and 31 percent. Hotels should be reserved on June 9 for up to 20 percent in savings. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be the busiest travel days followed by the Fourth of July weekend.
- Book budget hotels early, wait with international flights: Consumers can save an average of 15 percent when waiting until 30 days prior to the trip and booking rooms that are $120 or less per night. For more expensive hotel rooms, the time of booking is less important as prices only increase two and a half percent on average. For international flights, consumers should make reservations 50 days prior to their flight to save up to 32 percent. Domestic flights should be purchased earlier for the best deals - 90 days prior to departure. Prices start to jump significantly 20 days prior to departure with the average airfare increasing by three percent each day.
Helpful Links
- Adobe Digital Index 2015 Travel Report
- CMO.com Article
- Video Blog
- Adobe Digital Marketing Blog
About Adobe Digital Index
Adobe Digital Index publishes research on digital marketing and other topics of interest to senior marketing and e-commerce executives across industries. Research is based on the analysis of select, anonymous and aggregated data from over 5,000 major companies worldwide that use Adobe Marketing Cloud to obtain actionable data and analysis of activity on their websites.
About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.
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