How To Win Travel Bookings

The travel industry is noisy with a diverse range of online and offline players competing to win bookings. As a travel company, how do you stand out from the crowd and win customer bookings?

WEX conducted a survey of UK consumers to understand when and where travel is most commonly booked and what influences the choices of consumers when booking.

From this exclusive research 3 key factors emerged as the major drivers for travelers in choosing when and where to book travel.

1. Convenience

Our research found that convenience plays a large part in determining where travel is booked, 80% of travellers who book online stated that they do so because it’s convenient.

Convenience also influences both whether travel is booked with an online travel agency (OTA) or directly with airlines or hotels. 59% of travellers who book with an OTA like the convenience of dealing with just 1 company, while 55% of those who book direct find it convenient to go straight to the company that will fulfil their booking.

Meanwhile, almost three quarters of travellers who choose to book their holiday as a package do so as they like the convenience of having one booking that covers their whole trip. And, over half of travellers who choose to book the components of their holiday separately, taking a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach, do so as they find the flexibility of choosing each element convenient in giving them the exact trip desired.

2. Cost

Aside from seeking out low prices, our research highlighted that travellers need to believe that they are getting a fair and competitive deal when booking travel.

Of travellers who book online 61% do so as they believe prices are cheaper than those available offline.

Price also influences the type of website that travellers choose to book with. 57% of travellers who book with OTAs believe that they can access better prices and deals from a range of providers this way. While 68% of those who prefer to book directly with airlines and hotels feel they get better rates by going direct.

Cost also impacts how far in advance travel is booked. Almost half of travellers who typically book 1 month or more before their travel date do so to take advantage of early booking discounts available.

3. Confidence

Once travellers are happy that a travel company is offering what they are looking for at the right price, our research revealed that they need to feel confident that the company is reputable and offering adequate protection for their booking.

When asked what is the most important factor when choosing where to book travel the availability of ATOL and/or ABTA protection came out on top. Consumers understand to look out for these schemes when booking, participation by travel companies helps create the consumer confidence needed to win bookings.

For the 17% of travellers who prefer to book travel offline, confidence is a key driver in this decision – 71% feel they get better quality personalised face-to-face service, while 45% do so to access expert knowledge.

Confidence also influences those travellers who choose to book travel as a package; 48% of travellers who choose package options prefer these because of the protection typically offered should something go wrong.

Winning travel bookings

Travel companies who are able to successfully offer convenience in service and travel options at the right cost, while building confidence amongst consumers, have the ingredients to win travel bookings.

Our whitepaper, The 3 ‘C’s of Winning Travel Bookings: Convenience, Cost and Confidence, presents key booking trends in the UK travel market to show the role that these 3 factors play in where and when consumers book. It explores how your supplier payment solution is central to helping you increase convenience, keep prices competitive and build confidence.

What you will learn

Essential reading for anyone operating within the travel industry, the whitepaper gives direct insight both into where and when travel is booked and the key drivers behind these decisions. It answers these questions and more:

• When is the most popular time to book in advance of travelling for consumers?
• Why do consumers book at this time?
• What is the biggest influence on where consumers book travel?
• Which type of website do consumers prefer to book with?
• Why do consumers favour one type of website?

1,010 UK consumers surveyed by WEX in May 2016