Amadeus-commissioned global study identifies trend-setting travellers online shopping behaviour and future motivations

A new industry study released today, Empowering inspiration: the future of travel search identifies trend-setting consumers´ behaviour and motivations when shopping for travel online, and identifies their experience during the destination selection, shopping and booking processes. The study also details the key trends and predictions for how consumers want to be able to search for travel online in the future.

The Amadeus-commissioned study, conducted by travel industry research authority PhoCusWright Inc., surveyed 4,638 travellers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, India, Russia and Brazil. In addition to consumer insights, PhoCusWright conducted 18 executive interviews with thought leaders around the world to gain industry perspective on where travel search is headed.

Although the travellers under review are not representative of the mainstream consumer, they have the most sophisticated shopping needs and represent the early adopters whose current behaviours and preferences are leading indicators of behaviour in the future.

Key findings include but are not limited to:

The frustrations and pain points travellers face when planning and booking travel.

All consumers face frustrations during the shopping and booking process, however, those in emerging markets are more frustrated than their developed counterparts. For example, in the shopping process 47% of U.S. travellers experience frustration online, compared to over 78% of Russian travellers. This is due to information overload and the lack of confidence that they are getting a good deal.

New ways in which travellers would like to search for travel:

In the developed markets, nearly 50% of travellers had a particular place in mind, whereas in the emerging markets, it was only about a third of travellers. Catering to these travellers is advantageous, as attracting shoppers earlier in the purchase funnel broadens their audience and reduces their reliance on search and referral traffic. Furthermore, more than four in 10 travellers across the markets are flexible about travel dates, thus tools that help determine where and which travel dates have the lowest price have widespread appeal. It is time to think outside of the traditional city pair/travel date box.

How travellers want to use mobile devices and social networks when planning and sharing travel experiences:

Three in 10 travellers in Europe currently have no interest in using their mobile phones for travel-related activities, but U.S. consumers show levels of interest comparable to emerging markets for mobile features such as alerts and check-in. Mobile device usage for travel is more than twice as common in emerging markets, most notably in India, where nearly 24% of travellers research destinations online on their phones.

Looking ahead, the report also looks at how new technologies may change travel planning in the future, including but not limited to:

The truly private private sale: Marketplaces around the world have been flooded with promotions, deals, and now flash sale brands that tout discounts with no context of whether an individual would be interested in the product. As consumer segmentation and behavioural targeting to consumers becomes more sophisticated, sellers will be able to microtarget promotions to specific consumers, offering products that are actually relevant for the buyer.

Cumulative ¨intelligence¨: With hundreds of options, online shoppers are overloaded. Eventually, programmes will learn from an individual´s behaviour over time by observing and aggregating common patterns. Micro-segmentation will help companies analyse behaviour and deliver increasingly intelligent results.

Smart systems and virtual private assistant: Devices will become smart and interconnected, and will store and make sense of information consumers look at. The programme will recognise and process inputs from the sites consumers visit and what they do on them, and will act as an assistant on the consumer´s behalf.

Antoine Medawar, Vice President, Middle East and North of Africa, Amadeus: said: "The Amadeus commissioned study aptly brings to light global trends, the significance of which can be seamlessly translated to this region. Increased internet penetration in the Middle East and across the globe has resulted in a significant evolution of online and e-commerce business models."

A recent report released by research firm Euromonitor International shows a monumental spike in e-commerce growth across the Arab world, with online sales tipped to reach US$2 billion (AED7.34bn) by 2016. The report also found that online shoppers in the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia spent $US1.01 billion on e-commerce sites in 2011, with many local retailers reporting a twofold increase in revenues.

Medawar added: "In today's competitive market, online travel providers must adopt technologies that provide an added value to consumers. Technology has and will continue to impact the way agents do business, the effects of which will invariably trickle down to impact consumer buying habits."

Carroll Rheem, Director of Research, PhoCusWright said: "Megabrands...are applying enormous talent and imagination towards solving traveller problems. It is mission critical for all travel retailers to understand and adapt to how consumers want to make travel decisions, not just how they have made them in the past. This study illuminates the things companies can't see in their clickstream and conversion – desirable elements their websites currently lack."