2024

Travel Intelligence Report

A deep dive into the travel sector landscape within the performance marketing channel.
A group of small travel-themed figurines sitting on a beige table in front of a blue background. The group includes a wooden totem, a white column, a stone Chinese soldier, the Eiffel Tower, a Red telephone box, plastic palm trees, and a kangaroo.
2024

Travel Intelligence Report

A deep dive into the travel sector landscape within the performance marketing channel.
A group of small travel-themed figurines sitting on a beige table in front of a blue background. The group includes a wooden totem, a white column, a stone Chinese soldier, the Eiffel Tower, a Red telephone box, plastic palm trees, and a kangaroo.

This report leverages CJ's comprehensive travel sector data to explore how the travel industry has met evolving traveller preferences in the post-pandemic era. By analysing trends in bookings, travel duration, top destinations, and more, we uncover valuable insights into where the industry has been and, more importantly, where it's headed in 2024.

The Travel Intelligence Report leverages CJ's unparalleled global network data and advanced programme integrations to deliver sector-specific and category-level booking data. This comprehensive report offers visibility into traveler demand, spanning from 2020 to the latest booking patterns in 2023. Growth rates within the report are calculated using booking data for active travel programmes within the CJ network. Additionally, our interactive charts empower you to explore the data with ease, allowing for flexible viewing, filtering, and downloading of key findings.

Dig into the Data & Insights

01
Travel Transformed
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02
Booking Trends
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03
Consumption Rates
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04
Top Destinations
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05
Future Bookings
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06
Key Takeaways
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Booking Value: Pricing Cools

Overall booking value across major lines of business—air, car, hotel — declined slightly (-1%) YOY in 2023. This trend can be attributed to a significant double-digit percentage decrease in car rental costs, and despite a 15% YOY increase in airfare booking value. The average costs for travel booked greater than 3 months out in 2023 was $850 compared to $884 in 2022.

Lead times also played a role in booking value. Bookings made closer to travel dates (with shorter lead times) saw a 4% YOY increase in average order value (AOV). Conversely, bookings made 6-12 weeks ahead of travel experienced a -2% YOY decline. This shift likely reflects a normalisation of hotel and car rental costs following post-pandemic highs.

Mobile Values

Travellers consistently book trips with higher value when using desktops compared to mobile devices. This difference is particularly significant for airfare bookings. In 2023, the value of airfare booked on desktops was 40% higher than bookings made on mobile devices. Overall, booking values on desktops remain 15% higher than on mobile.

Longer Trips

The average travel duration increased by 7% last year. This trend was driven primarily by air travel, which saw the most significant increase in duration, rising 25% YOY to an average of 3.0 days.

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Travellers are increasingly using mobile devices to research and book trips—40% of the network’s travel bookings in the past year occurred on mobile devices. This highlights the critical role a mobile-optimised website or app plays in driving growth for travel brands. Linda O'Connell, Senior Vice President, UK & IE, CJ

Growth Shifts

Q1 2023 saw a significant boost in bookings, with a 14% increase year-over-year. This positive trend was fuelled by a surge in hotel booking volume, particularly in January, where they jumped 30% compared to the same month in 2022. Looking beyond Q1, historical booking data reveals a consistent pattern from 2020 to 2023: the first half of the year tends to be busier, with January, March, and April seeing the highest growth in booking volumes.

Travellers in 2023 showed a shift towards booking trips further in advance. While last-minute bookings (within 7 days) and short-term bookings (within 6 weeks) still occurred, their overall share of bookings decreased by 25% each. This suggests a growing comfort level with planning trips well ahead of time. This trend is further confirmed by a significant 33% increase in bookings with travel dates beyond 12 weeks of the booking date.

Hotel

In 2023, a greater share of hotel bookings with short lead times (< 7 days) were booked on mobile devices than desktops. Specifically, 32% of hotel bookings made on mobile devices had a short lead time, compared to 28% of short lead time bookings on desktops.

Car

Car rental bookings witnessed their strongest growth last year in May, experiencing a significant year-over-year increase of 89%.

Air

Airfare prices rose in 2023 compared to the previous year, with an average increase of 12%. The peak holiday travel season in November and December saw the most dramatic price hikes, with airfares jumping 22% and 23% year-over-year, respectively.

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As a result of tighter personal budgets, 61% of travellers expect to plan more in advance to secure a better deal and 53% consider off-season destinations or a longer route on a journey to reduce costs. Booking.com Travel Research Study, 2023

More Booking Certainty

In 2023, the travel industry witnessed a positive shift in booking completion rates, also known as the consumption rate. This metric increased to 73%, likely due to easing health restrictions and a recovering travel industry, fostering greater traveller confidence. For instance, with the reopening of iconic British destinations like Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London, there was a surge in domestic tourism across the UK, contributing to the positive shift in booking completion rates.

Interestingly, the consumption rate varied based on the booking timeframe. Hotels booked within 7 days of travel saw the highest rate at 89%, indicating a strong last-minute travel trend.

Conversely, car rentals reserved more than 3 months in advance displayed the lowest consumption rate at 51%, suggesting a higher likelihood of cancellation for long-term rentals. As expected, booking lead time significantly impacted the consumption rate. Historically, trips booked far in advance have shown lower completion rates. This trend continued in 2023, with bookings made more than 12 weeks ahead of travel experiencing a consumption rate of 56%.

Short Trips

Trips booked within 7 days of travel saw a surprisingly high completion rate of 88%. This suggests these bookings might be for business trips or short getaways with a high likelihood of happening. The shorter timeframe between booking and travel date reduces the chance of unforeseen circumstances causing cancellation. This trend prompts brands to offer tailored deals and flexible booking options to capture this market segment.

Commitment Issues

Bookings with a higher value and a lead time exceeding 12 weeks continue to have the lowest completion rate. This trend worsened in 2023, with the consumption rate for these bookings declining by an additional 5% year-over-year.

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Global Travel Surges

Travellers embraced international adventures in 2023, with bookings for trips outside their home countries surging by 13% YOY to represent 29% of all travel booked. This highlights a growing appetite for global exploration.

Booking volume data reveals the top five most popular destinations in 2023 were the US, UK, France, Germany, and Spain. Additionally, Japan emerged as a rising travel star, experiencing increased popularity.

The surge in international travel fuelled a corresponding demand for transportation. Bookings for airfare skyrocketed by 93% YOY, while car rentals witnessed an impressive 84% YOY increase. This growth significantly outpaced the more modest 9% YOY rise in hotel bookings.

Air

A majority of airfare in 2023 was booked more than 12 weeks ahead, a major shift from 2022 when the typical lead time was 6 weeks.

Hotel

Hotel bookings for travellers venturing abroad had longer lead times compared to 2022—the largest share of bookings (33%) was made greater than 12 weeks prior to travel.

Car

Car rentals are being booked with much longer lead times as well. Last year, 55% of car rental bookings were booked less than 12 weeks prior to travel, compared to 28% in 2022.

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Uneven Growth

Travel bookings on the CJ network have shown steady growth since 2020, albeit with some inconsistencies. Hotel bookings have seen the most consistent rise, followed by car rentals. These two categories were the primary drivers of the network's 9% YOY growth in 2023 travel performance. Looking ahead, as travel industry prices stabilise and traveller confidence strengthens, we can expect further gains across all booking types in the coming year.

The Importance of July

Hotel bookings in July have consistently experienced year-over-year growth since 2020. This trend highlights July's importance as a prime month for launching hotel booking campaigns and promotions.

Peaks and Valleys

Despite ongoing changes in the travel industry, certain trends persist in the United Kingdom. Booking data reveals that peak travel seasons remain consistent year after year. June, July, and August continue to be the most popular months for travel, with bookings reaching their highest value during this time, notably due to summer vacations and events like Wimbledon. April emerges as a significant month for travel, notably because of the Easter holiday, marking the first real vacation after Christmas. Conversely, January and February see the lowest volume and value of hotel stays, as the cold weather and post-holiday blues deter travel in the UK.

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Robust Tracking

The travel industry is facing a wave of privacy regulations and browser policy changes that impact how you track, store, and share traveller data. Staying compliant requires a proactive approach, particularly when it comes to tracking.

The deprecation of third-party cookies demands a shift towards first-party data ownership. This empowers you with accurate attribution, optimised travel campaigns based on data insights, and transparent partnerships with travel affiliates through clear tracking processes.

Think of robust tracking as the cornerstone of successful travel marketing partnerships, akin to defining campaign goals. Reliable tracking helps you understand travellers' browsing behaviour and booking preferences, optimise marketing spend based on data, and even offer personalised travel packages based on traveller behaviour – all crucial aspects for maximising your return on ad spend.

CJ understands the importance of adapting to the changing privacy landscape in the travel industry. CJ's Universal Tag solution addresses these challenges by providing future-proof tracking that remains effective despite evolving regulations. It seamlessly integrates with your website, maintaining a positive user experience, while prioritising solutions that enhance the online travel booking journey for your customers.

By working with a reliable tracking partner like CJ, you can ensure accurate data capture, optimise travel campaigns for better results, and strengthen partnerships even as privacy regulations change.

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Measure Influence

Social media has become a powerful tool for travel discovery, with viral trends and trusted creators heavily influencing traveller inspiration. Despite recognising this influence, the travel industry struggles to accurately measure the ROI of influencer marketing campaigns.

Travel brands can bridge the gap between influencer content and internal success metrics by moving beyond simply measuring social media engagement. Analysing a creator's influence across all marketing channels is crucial. This allows brands to understand their impact on the entire travel booking process, from sparking inspiration all the way to booking.

Reporting tools like CJ's Affiliate Cross Channel Journey  and Affiliate Customer Journey can be a game-changer. It helps brands understand which influencers enter the purchase journey early, which contribute to destination research, and which drive users towards booking. This granular data provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of influencer partnerships.

The affiliate marketing channel offers a unique advantage: comprehensive tracking across all channels and throughout the customer journey. It acts as a powerful junction, merging social data with performance metrics. CJ Influence offers a comprehensive influencer marketing solution, encompassing discovery, management, tracking, and analysis. By adapting to the evolving influencer landscape and fostering strong collaborations, travel brands can build powerful connections and maintain trust with their target audience. This, in turn, translates to a measurable ROI for influencer marketing campaigns.

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Dupe Travel

Travellers are embracing a new trend called "dupe travel" in response to rising costs and overcrowded destinations. This involves seeking out lesser-known locations offering similar experiences or amenities to popular tourist spots, often at a lower price. It allows travelers to avoid postponing trips or dealing with limited availability and high costs in popular destinations. This trend could also help alleviate pressure on heavily touristed locations, especially as cities like Bali and Venice implement tourist taxes and entrance fees in 2025. Beyond cost savings, some travelers are strategically choosing alternative destinations due to better hotel and flight options during peak seasons, particularly when popular spots become overcrowded. 

Travel marketers can capitalize on the dupe destination trend by tailoring promotions to attract travelers seeking unique experiences. Within the affiliate channel, collaborating with content creators like influencers and content commerce publishers is key. Their blog posts, articles, and social media content can resonate authentically with travelers increasingly mindful of both budget and environmental impact. As the affiliate marketing channel now includes major media publishers and influencers, developing an affiliate content strategy allows you to feature these lesser-known locations, highlighting their unique cultural experiences, hidden attractions, and stunning natural beauty.

 

For more information on these and other affiliate insights, contact your CJ team or join our network today.