With the close of the World Cup, UK internet users are turning their attention to summer holidays and winter escapes. Summer is typically one of the busiest seasons for travel websites and this
year looks set to be busier than ever, with visits to websites in the
Hitwise Travel category up 8% year-on-year and up 15% in the past month. The
internet giants are leading the charge with visits over the past month up
23% to Lastminute.com, 27% to Expedia UK, 20% to TripAdvisor, 33% to
LateRooms UK and 25% to First Choice.

“Despite the hype surrounding the World Cup and high hopes for England in
early matches, attention of UK consumers does not appear to have been
deflected from planning summer holidays,” said Heather Hopkins, Director of
Research for Hitwise UK.  “Visits to travel websites have grown more rapidly
in the past month than during the same period last year.  Given the flurry
of activity in recent weeks, we are likely to see strong growth for the
sector online leading up to the mid-August annual peak.”

 

Consumers search for last minute summer holidays and research winter escapes

 

Analysis of the most searched-for destinations sending visits to travel
agency websites reveals that while some consumers are searching for last
minute summer holidays, others are researching winter escapes to long-haul
destinations, such as Australia. 

 

The most searched-for destinations sending visits to Travel Agencies in the
four weeks to 8th July 2006 include Australia, Turkey, Tenerife, Cyprus, and
Florida. The top search terms sending visits to online travel agencies in
the four weeks ending 8th July 2006, excluding brand names, were ‘holidays,’
‘cheap holidays,’ ‘cheap flights,’ ‘flights,’ ‘travel agents’ and ‘package
holidays.’

 

Top 10 search terms driving traffic to Travel Agency websites

Four weeks to 8th July 2006

Rank

Top destination search terms

Top non-brand search terms

1

flights to australia

holidays

2

cheap flights to australia

cheap holidays

3

cheap flights to turkey

cheap flights

4

flights to tenerife

flights

5

flights to cyprus

travel agents

6

cheap flights to cyprus

package holidays

7

cheap flights to tenerife

all inclusive holidays

8

florida holidays

holiday

9

flights to new york

travel insurance

10

cheap flights to alicante

travel
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