Sojern and Google Team to Reveal Latest Australia and New Zealand Travel Trends

Mobile-first Searches Indicate Need for More Mobile Marketing

SAN FRANCISCO - Media OutReach - 12 April 2018 - Sojern , travel's demand engine, today announces the release of an Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Travel Report developed with Google. Drawing on Google search data and the billions of travel intent signals used to develop Sojern's 350 million traveller profiles, the report takes an in-depth view of how local, regional and international travellers search, compare and book travel.

"Our data shows tourism continuing to grow significantly in Australia and New Zealand," said Chris Greenwood, Sojern Regional Sales Director. "Despite the increasingly complex traveler path to purchase, which spans multiple devices, channels and platforms, this growth presents a huge opportunity for travel marketers. Brands with personalised, cross-channel strategies that engage with travellers on all devices and in all stages of the path to purchase will win in this market."

Key report findings include:

Mobile-first Searches Indicate Need for More Mobile Marketing

56 percent of in-region Google travel queries for Australia and New Zealand came from mobile phones indicating mobile-first behavior when searching for travel. In our data, Sojern saw the mobile-first trend continue with international travellers planning trips to this region: 43 percent of travellers from outside the APAC region searched for trips on mobile. The importance of a mobile strategy for marketers in this region cannot be overstated.

Mobile-first, but Travelers Moving Cross Device to Book

Tourists travelling to Australia and New Zealand engage heavily in mobile while planning their trip, but many move cross-device when booking. APAC travelers, those closest in distance to the ANZ market, are more likely to book on their mobile phones. This is consistent with what we've seen in the past and indicates that when consumers book within the region or book last minute, they use mobile to do so. However, when booking a trip that is further away in distance or time, they switch to a desktop.

Additionally, adding to the complexity of the travellers path to purchase, mobile device usage trends for travel searches fluctuates based on the day of the week. According to Sojern data, travel searches peak on Mondays and Tuesdays across all devices. Travel search is lowest during the weekend, but the share of mobile searches increases by nearly 10 percent during the same time.

With mobile searches on the rise--despite increased complexity--implementing a multichannel strategy that engages travellers on all devices at every stage of the path to purchase is key for travel marketers.

Consumer Sentiment shifts while Holiday Rentals, Cruise Growing

While air travel and hotels reign supreme in terms of volume, there has been significant year-over-year growth for holiday rentals and cruise queries for in-region travel. Even more interesting, "generic" queries are outgrowing "branded" queries, indicating that consumer sentiment around brand loyalty may be shift when evaluating travel options.This indicates that travellers may be looking for alternative lodging and types of travel once in-destination, and that they may search more generic terms or turn to the home sharing market to try and find the best deals while browsing online.

"The Sojern Traveler Platform allows us to better understand in-market audiences in real-time--talking to the right customers at the right time with the right message," adds Greenwood. "Whether you are an airline, a big international hotel, or a tour operator, you need to understand the differences between travellers looking to visit Australia and New Zealand and how to reach them as they dream, plan, and book their trips."

To learn more about our Australia and New Zealand travel trends, visit the report .

About Sojern:

Sojern is travel's marketing demand engine for thousands of brands in the hotel, air, cruise, transportation, and tourism industries. Specializing in traveler path-to-purchase data for more than a decade, Sojern delivers branding and performance solutions by combining search and booking intent signals with proprietary data science methods to analyze and activate the world's travelers in real-time. Recognized as a Deloitte Technology Top 500 Fastest Growing Company for 5 years in a row, Sojern is headquartered in San Francisco and has teams based in Berlin, Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Mexico City, New York, Omaha, Paris, Singapore and Sydney. For more information, visit www.sojern.com .