May 12 - More than a year after COVID-19 shutdowns and restrictions started impacting countries around the world, the travel industry is on the road to recovery, and people are eager to start traveling again. Expedia is seeing positive shifts – especially as vaccines roll out more broadly – and signs that traveler optimism is on the rise. The time is now to connect with travelers who are dreaming about, considering and even booking trips this year. If you are still in wait and see mode, you may miss opportunities to drive awareness, consideration and demand as travelers are quickly deciding on trips – especially with the summer season in many parts of the world right around the corner. 

 

To help you start to recover and rebuild, Expedia is sharing a snapshot of the latest quarterly trends they are seeing from the exclusive access to Expedia Group first-party data and custom research.

 

While only a fraction of the insights Expedia can tap into from the more than 300 petabytes of Expedia Group traveler intent and demand data, their intent is to signal at a high level how traveler behaviors and needs are shifting to help travel marketers start to recover and rebuild. Please connect with Expedia any time for more specific data on your region and destination.

 

Now let’s dive into the trends that bubbled up in Q1 2020.

 

Global Vaccine Rollouts Spur the Return of Travel

After a turbulent year for the travel industry in 2020, the start of 2021 saw travel turn a corner with monthly search volumes showing strong growth throughout Q1. The increase in searches and traveler demand is linked with growing momentum for the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and travel guidelines.

 

Global Search Window Remains Short

Continuing a trend seen throughout much of last year, the majority of global Q1 2021 searches fell within the 0 to 21 days search window, as uncertainty around global travel saw travelers opt for more opportunistic, short-term trips, often close to home. This trend seems to be strengthening for domestic trips, while longer search windows for international trips appear to be growing.

 

Making Up for Lost Time with Longer Trips

To make up for lost time, travelers are finally using their full vacation days and taking advantage of more flexible working conditions with “flexcations” – a longer stay mixing work and play. This is resulting in longer trips, as well as a strong increase in vacation rental demand quarter-over-quarter. Travelers are booking more stays of at least 7 nights at Vrbo vacation homes this summer, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

 

Domestic Travel Here for the Foreseeable Future

Even with COVID-19 vaccine distribution ramping up, many travelers are continuing to take trips closer to home – opting for beach and city destinations – and choosing car travel as their preferred mode of transportation. As travelers look ahead to late spring and summer travel, road trips will continue to eclipse air travel and other transportation methods.

 

Health & Hygiene Expectations Continue to Evolve

Since the start of the pandemic, healthand hygiene-related factors have grown in importance for travelers. However, as consumer confidence continues to grow, there are signs that travelers are prioritizing more traditional decision-making drivers, such as cost and convenience.

 

Global Vaccine Rollouts Spur the Return of Travel

After a sluggish start in January, 2021 turned a corner on 2020 with stronger monthly search volumes in February. March saw even higher volumes of at least 20% month-over-month in some cases. The increase in searches and traveler demand is linked with growing momentum for the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and travel guidelines around the world, as well as travel “bubbles” and corridors for safer air travel between countries.

 

With one of the world’s leading vaccine rollouts, search trends in the United States illustrate the correlation between major vaccine announcements and week-on-week search growth. As confidence from American travelers built throughout the quarter, monthly search volumes continued to trend upward in.

 

 

Q1 2021. In week-over-week searches, the week of March 15 saw the largest spike in searches – an increase of 30% – following the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) release of guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals. Interestingly, the U.S.-based guidance also drove spikes in traveler searches in other regions, following a similar trend line.

 

According to the recent Expedia Group Travel Outlook, the CDC news made 43% of Americans feel more comfortable traveling — or drove them to book an upcoming trip. Around 55% of married couples and city dwellers are more willing to travel as soon as vaccines are widely available (Expedia Group 2021 Trends Report).

 

Widespread vaccine rollout in the U.S. is also spurring vaccine vacations: 1 in 3 Americans plan to or have already taken a vacation to celebrate getting vaccinated.

 

Global Search Window Remains Short

Continuing a trend seen throughout much of last year, the majority of global searches fell within the 0 to 21 days search window, as uncertainty around global travel saw travelers opt for more opportunistic, short-term trips, closer to home.

 

Interestingly, when Expedia compares search windows for domestic and international travel at a global level, they see that this trend for shorter term planning is driven largely by domestic considerations, with almost 60% of domestic searches falling within the 0 to 21 days search period. This number drops to under 40% for international searches, with searches 91 days out or longer representing almost a third (30%) of international Q1 2021 searches. 

 

 

This trend is particularly pronounced in the EMEA region, where searches 91 days out or longer represented almost 40% of international searches made in Q1 2021, up from around 25% in Q4 2020. This is good news for ‘bucketlist’ or once-in-a-lifetime type destinations or attractions looking to attract long-haul travelers.

 

This growing momentum dovetails with pent-up consumer demand and an increasing desire to make up for lost time, resulting in “revenge shopping.” Whether domestic or international, or planning for an immediate or future trip, travelers are ready for new experiences.

 

 

Making Up for Lost Time with Longer Trips

Around 6 in 10 travelers had a planned leisure trip cancelled due to COVID-19 last year (Traveler Sentiment & Influences). Many travelers are making up for lost time this year by taking longer trips, planning to fully use vacation days and continuing to work remotely while traveling with “flexcations” – that is longer stays that include work and play. 67% of families in the U.S. who took a “flexcation” would take a similar trip again (Vrbo 2021 Travel Trends Report), so Expedia expects to see this trend throughout the year.

 

Those longer trips are benefiting destinations and accommodations providers.

 

Quarter-over-quarter, in Q1 2021, vacation rental demand increased and the global average length of stay for vacation rentals jumped 30%. Data from Vrbo shows vacation rental travelers are 75% more likely to book more stays of at least 7 nights at vacation homes this summer, exceeding prepandemic levels (Vrbo vacation rental demand for June 1-August 31, 2021).

 

That speaks to opportunities for marketers to promote and encourage longer stays.

 

Domestic Travel Here for the Foreseeable Future

Travelers continue to prioritize domestic over international travel, though Expedia is starting to see international search demand begin to return. Travel shoppers are currently showing preference to travel domestically, indicated by the first party Expedia Group data and custom research, however, there are some variances in consumer sentiment around travel based on country/region.

 

 

Based on Expedia Group’s search data, which shows that domestic searches have exceeded international searches since the beginning of the pandemic, travelers will likely continue to focus on domestic trips this year.

 

Top 10 Booked Destinations

In Q1 2021, beach and city destinations made up the top 10 booked destinations around the world, and within each region. Regionally, the top 10 booked destinations were primarily for destinations within the same region, further illustrating that travelers continued to stay closer to home.

 

 

Car Travel

Along with the vacation rental market, road trips appear to be another beneficiary of the domestic travel trend. Insights from Expedia’s recent Traveler Sentiment Study further highlight the car travel trend. The research found that for both domestic and international travel to a neighboring country during April to September 2021, travelers consider driving their own car or a rental car safer than other modes of transportation. 62% of global travelers took, or would be willing to take, a road trip during the pandemic.

 

Health & Hygiene Expectations Continue to Evolve

Since the start of the pandemic, health and hygiene related factors have grown in importance for travelers. Analysis of Expedia Group guest review data from the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 shows a steep spike in the percentage of guests mentioning cleanliness in their reviews. Since then, roughly over a third of all guest reviews mention cleanliness, further highlighting the increased importance put on cleaning by Expedia Group customers.

 

This trend is reinforced by Expedia recent research, which reveals that 4 out of 5 travelers expect to make accommodation decisions based on implemented pandemic measures. 

 

 

However, as consumer confidence continues to grow, there are signs that more traditional decisionmaking drivers such as cost and convenience are beginning to reassert themselves. Looking at the flight booking process reveals an interesting shift in customer mindset. Flights are often the first element booked and a good indicator of how people are thinking and feeling about travel.

 

When comparing the top five topics searched for when booking flights from the last 12 months, against the top five from Q1 2021, Expedia sees some interesting trends. The aggregated annual data is naturally dominated by health- and hygiene-focused considerations, such as overall safety, cleanliness and crowding. 

 

In the last quarter, Expedia saw these topics drop from the top of the list and replaced with more prosaic considerations, such as cost and the ability to change flights, indicating that travelers are becoming less focused on health and hygiene related issues, and more focused on financial peace of mind and convenience. Cleanliness, hygiene and pandemic measures remain popular topics as well, but as traveler confidence grows and people feel more comfortable traveling, their priorities may shift back to activities and experiences, which previously drove travel decisions.

 

 

Looking Forward

With hope on the horizon, what trends will we see in Q2 2021?

 

International Travel

As vaccine distribution broadens globally and international travel restrictions ease, Expedia anticipates that traveler confidence will grow, resulting in increased interest and planning for international travel.

 

Sustainable Travel

If done sustainably, travel can connect us culturally, emotionally, and physically. It opens our eyes, minds, and hearts, all while providing positive economic impacts and working to lower environmental effects. And travelers are taking note. In the lead up to Earth Day (April 22), Expedia Group found that approximately half of travelers say they choose eco-friendly travel options at least part of the time. As travel returns, Expedia will see if traveler attitudes mirror travel behaviors.

 

Inclusion & Diversity

Expedia Group’s mission is to power global travel for everyone, everywhere. Expedia teams have been hard at work building out meaningful inclusivity resources that their brands and teams can leverage to ensure travelers are represented and their partners can join Expedia’s intentional position in this space.

 

 

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