Consumers are increasingly turning to their phones, asking Google for trip ideas and YouTube to give them a preview of their upcoming vacation destination.
In a recently released report focusing on the impact of mobile technology, Google analysts found that more and more consumers are moving away from desktop searches and towards mobile devices: mobile queries have increased 50 per cent over the last year.
The most commonly asked questions on Google regarding travel include “What to do in (destination)?” and “Where is (destination)?”
A further breakdown shows that flight-related queries made on phones and tablets on Google.com were up 33 per cent year over year, while hotel searches also spiked 49 per cent.
Consumers are increasingly using YouTube to research destinations. Among those who watched travel-related content, 64 per cent said they watched while thinking about taking a trip.
Analysts identified an emerging trend in travel-related mobile searches, which they call “micro-moments,” when consumers consult their phones in brief, focused sessions.
Time spent on mobile travel sites, for instance, recorded a 7 per cent drop.
“It’s clear from our research, people are no longer doing long research sessions,” said paper co-author Oliver Heckmann.
“Consumers are doing research in the many connected moments on mobile and desktop throughout their day. We’re thinking a lot about how we should be evolving our products to keep pace with this change.”
Meanwhile, Google’s Travel Dashboard also identified a few interesting trends over the last few months, including the fact that, in the US, Southwest is the most popular airline search on Google, followed by Delta Air Lines and American Airline.
Likewise, consumers turned to their mobile devices to look up hotels the most, followed by airlines and destination activities.
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