What do you get when you put together the survey results of over 2,600 travelers in 80+ countries with the analytics from more than 250,000 U.S. and global travel transactions on Last Minute Travel Club’s (a Travel Holdings, Inc. subsidiary) Last Minute Travel website? You get a unique view into the travel trends and preferences of leisure and business travelers around the world. The Last Minute Travel 2013 Travel Trends Report was designed to provide insights into the travel and tourism industry, including why people travel, their booking preferences, and more. Let’s take off! Travel has become a natural staple of the holidays we love to celebrate. It’s no secret that holidays tend to be among the busiest travel periods each year. The hype is justified. 72% of people indicated that they plan to travel for at least one holiday in the next 12 months. The top three holidays for travel includes: Christmas (23%) Thanksgiving (19%) New Year’s (16%) Age plays a small role in whether a traveler will book a hotel. Those under the age of 25 and those over the age of 65 are the least likely to book a hotel when they travel. For both age ranges, 18% book a hotel less than 25% of the time, or never at all. Anecdotally, we see both groups stay more often with relatives, the under 25s with adults, and the over 65s with children and grandchildren. We live in a digital age. We connect to friends and family online. We bank online. We even buy and trade stocks online. The same digital trend applies to travel bookings. Global Travel trends 90%* of travelers said they prefer to book trips online, compared to a travel agent, mobile app or mobile web browser. 99% of travelers said they take at least one personal trip per year, while 52% said they take at least one business trip per year. 75% of travelers said they have a hotel budget of $150 or less per night. Just 2% of travelers never book a hotel when they travel. Over half (53%) book hotels for more than 90% of their trips. KEY TRAVEleR FINDINGS 72% of travelers indicated they plan to travel for at least one holiday this year. Price (39%) , promotions (18%) and location (18%) are the three decision factors that matter most when booking a hotel. WHY PEOPLE TRAVEL BUSINESS vs. PERSONAL TRIPS 47% 37% 9% 48% 30% 12% The impact of age on travel When are people’s peak traveling years? And at what ages do people travel the most? Personal Travel As a person ages, they tend to take more frequent personal trips. 64% of those aged 65 or older take more than four personal trips per year. This is a minimum of 7% more than any other age group. The correlation between age and number of personal trips likely results from more expendable income and downtime as individuals get older. NUMBER OF PERSONAL VS. BUSINESS TRIPS BY AGE Preferred vacation types The two most popular types of vacations based on survey responses were rest and relaxation (39%) and sightseeing trips (29%). MOST POPULAR VACATIONS most popular Destinations TOP 10 TRAVEL DESTINATIONS: 1. Las Vegas, Nevada 2. London, England 3. New York, New York 4. Paris, France 5. Miami, Florida 6. Orlando, Florida 7. Honolulu, Hawaii 8. Madrid, Spain 9. Berlin, Germany 10. Chicago, Illinois HOLIDAY TRAVEL 6. Time with nature hiking, camping, canoeing 5. Sports/extreme any trip relating to a sporting event or extreme sporting hobby 2. Sightseeing museums, monuments, historical sites 1. Rest and relaxation beaches, pools, lounging 4. Play theme parks and water parks 8. Staycation any close-to-home trips 3. Visit family/friends trips to visit family and friends 7. Planned experience volunteer work or religious/mission-based trips ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY THANKSGIVING! HAPPY NEW YEAR!’ Thanksgiving Easter Labor Day Christmas Fourth of July New Year’s Memorial Day MOST FREQUENTLY TRAVELED HOLIDAYS 19% 11% 23% 11% 9% 16% 11% The Hotel is the heart of Travel None Less than 25% 26-60% 61-89% More than 90% 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ PEOPLE WHO WILL BOOK A HOTEL THIS YEAR BY AGE Hotels and motels are travelers’ number one choice for lodging. HOTEL BRANDS DON’T MATTER Despite the millions of dollars hotels spend each year on brand marketing, just 4% of travelers choose their hotel based on its brand. This, in combination with how important price is to choosing a hotel, explains why the popularity of opaque hotel booking sites like LASTMINUTETRAVEL.COM are soaring. What’s an opaque hotel? An opaque hotel is one which does not reveal its name, but instead uses a description like “three-star motel in Union Square” until it is booked. Price is a consistent factor among all age groups too— making it the most powerful deciding factor when booking a hotel. Amenities Hotel Chain/Brand Location Price Promotions/Deals Reviews/Referrals Price (39%), promotions (18%) and location (18%) are the three decision factors that matter most to customers when booking a hotel. This means that more than half of the respondents (57%) book based on a price-related factor—either price itself or a promotion. TOP REASONS HOTELS ARE BOOKED HOTEL Hotel budgets Vs. Actual Money Spent 79% of people said they have a hotel budget of $150 or less. Less than $75 $76-$150 $151-$250 $251-$400 $400+ AVERAGE SPENT PER NIGHT WHEN BOOKING ACCOMMODATIONS: Survey reponses match actual bookings. LastMinuteTravel.com booking data shows that the average daily rate of a hotel is $134, and the average total price for the entire trip is $310. In looking at LastMinuteTravel.com hotel bookings, 91% had a daily rate of $250 or less in the last 12 months. BOOKING PREferences There is a HUGE difference between what people think they are doing, and what they are actually doing. People book more last minute travel than they realize. Here’s what’s really happening. No one likes feeling unprepared, especially when it comes to planning and booking trips. 69% SAY they book 1month in advance 23% SAY they book 3 months in advance Yet, booking data suggests otherwise: 50% of travelers book their flight 7 days or less before their trip 50% of travelers book their hotel 15 days or less before their trip STrategies to snag the best hotel priCe PREFERED WAY TO BOOK BY AGE We know that price is the number one factor when making a decision on which hotel to book. Knowing where and how to search online can greatly improve the odds of finding the best hotel rates available. Here are a few useful tips to find the best bargains. Be Flexible with Travel Dates Book by Price, Not Brand Sign Up for Club Memberships Consider Package Deals Hotel rates can vary based on time of year, day of the week and vacancy. If your calendar permits a bit of flexibility, try looking for hotels during slower, less popular seasons. Consider shopping for an opaque hotel deal. While you won’t know which hotel you are booking until it’s booked, you will get a lower price, and can compare locations and star-ratings. Travel club memberships, such as Last Minute Travel’s LMTCLUB.COM, can save you a considerable amount of money. Most club memberships offer exclusive hotel rates. Even if you originally did not consider pairing a hotel with a flight or a rental car, some package deals offer better discounts than what you would get by booking them separately. Source: LMTCLUB.COM, 2013 Global Travel Trends Report, November 2013. Download your free copy HERE. Global Travel trends *Yes, we were also surprised that only 90% of the people we asked on our travel website said they preferred to book their travel online. People between the ages of 25-34 are most likely to travel for work, with 62% going on at least one work-related trip annually. Business travel peaks for people between the ages of 25-34, with only 23% of respondents over the age of 65--the standard retirement age–traveling for business every year. Business Travel Want the world's lowest travel rates? Want to save up to 55% when you book hotels? Get a FREE year's membership to the Last Minute Travel Club (a $49 value!) by registering on LMTCLUB.COM with promo code TRAVELTRENDS (all caps!). Click HERE for a free membership, or 1. Click on the "Become a Member" button in the upper right-hand corner of LMTCLUB.com. 2. Enter your email and the password you want to use. 3. Enter your information, the TRAVELTRENDS promo code, and click "APPLY." HOW FAR IN ADVANCE ARE TRIPS BOOKED? WHAT PEOPLE THINK: WHAT PEOPLE DO: PERSONAL TRIPS PER YEAR BUSINESS TRIPS PER YEAR None 1-3 4-7 8-10 10+ 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ AGE 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ 53% 49% 49% 43% 45% 34% 34% 40% Less than 2% 32% 46% 35% 38% 7% 7% 9% 9% 9% 10% 9% 7% 6% 5% 4% 5% 12% 15% 12% 8% 5% 61% 38% 40% 45% 56% 77% 11% 27% 30% 34% 35.1% 30% 10% 6% 6% Less than 5% Less than 5% 19% 23% 11% 11% 9% 16% 11% 16% 39% 4% 4% 18% 18% 17% 15% 60% 21% 1% 4% Rest & Relaxation Sightseeing Visit Family/Friends Play Time with Nature Sports/Extreme Planned Experience Staycation 29% 12% 10% 39% 4% 4% 1% See the bottom of the infographic for a FREE bonus! People travel more often for fun, than for work. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 GENDER & VACATIONS DO NOT DISTURB SPENT $150 96% of people said they have a hotel budget of $250 or less. $250 BUDGETED HOTEL JOIN 1-3 Trips 4-7 Trips 8-10 Trips 10+ Trips BUSINESS PERSONAL And the remaining 48% don't take business trips And the remaining 1% don't take personal trips 30% 47% 12% 37% 3% 9% 7% 7% 6% Rest & Relaxation Sightseeing Visit Family/Friends Play Time with Nature Sports/Extreme Planned Experience Staycation According to our respondents, men and women are on the same page when it comes to their preferred vacation. Both genders picked rest and relaxation trips over all other types. There are only slight differences between the sexes when it comes to vacation types. We’ve all heard the phrase: “Men are from Mars; women are from Venus.” But do men and women prefer the same type of vacation? TRAVEL TYPE BY GENDER 1% 1% 39% 39% 31% 28% 13% 12% 10% 9% 5% 4% 3% MEN WOMEN PREFERED METHOD OF BOOKING 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8% OFFLINE MOBILE APP 0 1 2 3 4 5 6% 75 80 85 90 95 100% 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ 0 2 4 6 8 10% $£¥€ The overwhelming majority (90%) of people said they prefer to book trips online. But the older someone is, the more likely they are to book offline. The younger someone is, the more likely they are to book using a mobile app or mobile web browser. MOBILE WEB ONLINE 6% 4% 1% 2% 2% 2% 5% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% 85% 89% 90% 91% 92% 92% 10% 4% 5% 4% 2% 1% AGES: FREE BONUS: A free year’s membership to LMT Club!