Did you know that online travel booking had a $432 billion market size in 2020? And that this is estimated to hit $833 billion in 2025?
As technology becomes a crucial part of our lives, the way that travellers plan and book their trips today have evolved.
There are now websites and mobile apps to buy flight tickets, reserve cheap hotel rooms, and book travel experiences.
With the constant changes in traveller’s behaviour and consumer trends, it can be important to understand how researching is done for travels.
This includes understanding more deeply about the online travel booking market, the global leaders in this industry, as well as the current trends and how mobile booking compares to websites.
Today we have some interesting statistics about online travel booking for you.
From the number of online travel companies there are currently to how the Coronavirus pandemic has impacted online booking.
Sources: With each stat, I have included the source for the data. Please go to the end of this post for a complete summary of all the sources and articles used here.
By 2019, 57% of all travel bookings were made online. Meanwhile, 68% of all sales in travel & tourism are made online in 2022.
Booking.com was the most globally visited travel and tourism website in May 2022, when it received 564 million visits.
In May 2022, Booking.com and Tripadvisor received around 564 million and 167 million visits, respectively.
In 2018, global online travel sales made $694 billion, a 10.4% increase compared to the previous year
What percentage of travel bookings are made online?
[Statista]
Online travel booking is continuously taking up the travel booking market, and Statista estimates that by 2026, online sales will make up 73% of all revenue in travel and tourism.
[Statista]
The latest data on the global online travel agent industry stated that the market size in 2020 was $432 billion.
[Statista]
And with the rise of the digital nomad movement, the Internet will continue to play an increasingly large role in the travel industry.
[JerseyIslandHolidays]
[Medium]
Travel bookings include accommodation, flight, tour, and other related activities.
[TravelWeekly]
Online travel booking has been a huge thing this past decade. In 2012, 90% of people conducted online research before booking their holidays. Meanwhile, 80% of people did their bookings online.
What are the leading online travel agencies in the world?
[Statista]
In 2021, Booking.com was the online travel agency with the highest revenue.
[Statista]
[Statista]
In terms of the online travel company market, Airbnb dominated with $91.22 billion in market capitalization.
[Statista]
Meanwhile, Booking.com has the second highest market capitalization with $98,521 million.
[Statista]
[Statista]
[Statista]
In terms of website visits, Booking.com is the most visited travel and tourism website in the world. It received 564 million visits in May 2022 alone.
[Statista]
How many people make travel bookings online?
[Facebook IQ]
Most travellers from the US spend less than a week researching their travels.
[TrekkSoft]
TrekkSoft referred to 3 random data points between August and September 2019.
[TrekkSoft]
[TrekkSoft]
From 2017 to 2018, there was a significant increase in marketplace booking from 3.2% to 9.1%. On the other hand, less people booked directly on travel accommodation and company websites (from 79.2% to 66.7%).
[JerseyIslandHolidays]
It is estimated that 700 million guests will be booking their hotel rooms online by 2023.
How do mobile travel bookings compare with app bookings?
[SaleCycle]
Two of the most popular benefits of mobile apps compared to websites are the increased speed and functionality.
[SaleCycle]
20% of users also report that they download travel booking apps because of the better user experience.
[SaleCycle]
Meanwhile, only 11% of users download a travel booking app for the reward and discounts they get.
[FatBit]
The last 5 years have been an important period for the growth of online travel sales via mobile as it increased from 36% to almost 50% of all digital travel sales.
[JerseyIslandHolidays]
[JerseyIslandHolidays]
37% of millennial parents actually rely on online reviews when picking where to visit.
[JerseyIslandHolidays]
People are more likely to go through with their bookings when accessing websites through desktop (2.4% conversion rate) than mobile (0.7%).
[Phocus Wire]
Online travel booking is very important for solo travellers. In fact, 46% rely on mobile apps and access to book their hotels.
How many customers leave reviews when booking travels online?
[SaleCycle]
[SaleCycle]
22% of hotel customers always leave a review without being asked.
[SaleCycle]
An overwhelming majority (95%) of hotel reviews by customers are positive.
[TripAdvisor]
83% of users usually refers to reviews before deciding on a hotel, while 76% depends on guest-uploaded travel photos for decisions.
[SaleCycle]
More than half of all guests have written at least one review in the last year.
How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect the online travel booking sector?
[Statista]
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused Booking.com’s revenue to decrease by more than half in 2020, to just $6.8 billion.
[Statista]
[Statista]
The popular travel destination and accommodation website, Tripadvisor, also saw a dramatic 55% decrease in revenue from $1.56 billion in 2019 to $604 million in 2020..
[Statista]
What will online travel booking look like in the future?
[SaleCycle]
Chatbots in hotel websites can play a crucial role in customer spending.
[SaleCycle]
70% of all travellers worldwide use voice search technology during the planning stage of their trip, and it’s reasonable to assume that this percentage would increase.
[SaleCycle]
A majority of high-income tourists claim they would choose to spend more money on travel experiences than expensive hotel rooms.
[SaleCycle]
To conclude, it’s safe to say, based on data at least, that the online travel booking market will only grow and become more prevalent.
As we expect the market size to increase and take over traditional booking methods, travel-related businesses would benefit from developing their online booking system, especially where corporate and business travel is concerned.
Among the many online travel companies worldwide, Booking.com was the one to record the highest revenue back in 2020.
Meanwhile, Tripadvisor leads in terms of website visits as it became the most visited travel and tourism website.
While revenue for most companies had fallen due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this was to be expected as other businesses also experienced a decrease during this trying time.
At the same time, people have made more last-minute travel decisions in this pandemic era.
We can easily assume that online websites and mobile apps play a crucial role in their planning and booking.
We hope these statistics have been useful to help you understand more about online travel booking!
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