Social media thrives in tough travel market

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Travel used to be recreational (well, recreational travel, at least), but now even vacationers are finding ways to turn it into work. The latest report from travel research firm PhoCusWright, Social Media in Travel: Traffic & Activity, finds that the average vacationer is becoming more like the average blogger on a press trip. Travel reviews are written, photos popped onto the likes of Flickr and Facebook and personal blogs are peppered with opinions and observations. And, immediate reactions wind up on Twitter with incredible speed. All this content, straight from the horse’s mouth, is having a profound effect on the online travel market.

According to Douglas Quinby, senior director of research at PhoCusWright, “There continues to be a big gap between the enormous promise of social media and the current reality of realizing and measuring those returns.” He continues, “With our partners, we analyzed nearly 1.9 million traveler reviews and visitor referral and conversion traffic from more than 50 social travel Web sites, as well as general social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. The result is the most expansive research into where and how online travelers are creating, consuming and acting upon social content.”PhoCusWright is staying a bit tight-lipped with the reports details, holding them back for people with skin in the game (and thus willing to foot the $995 tab), but one observation was released that shows just how powerful an impact the social media environment can have on the travel industry: despite the hit the travel business took last year, monthly visitors to social travel sites surged from the first half of 2008 to the first half of 2009.

The fact that social media is having an impact on the travel community may be obvious, but the extent is staggering.

Travel from Japan to U.S. posts double-digit drop

by Tom Johansmeyer on

There aren’t as many Japanese tourists walking the streets of the United States as there were a year ago. The latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, which covers the third quarter of 2009, puts Japanese travel to the United States down 10 percent to 15 percent on average relative to the same quarter in 2008, and the situation is forecasted to be grim for the fourth quarter results, as well, which are expected to show a continued decline. Seventy-eight percent of the Japan travel trade has projected a drop in fourth quarter travel results year-over-year.

And it doesn’t look better for the beginning of this year. Fifty-two percent of the travel firms in Japan that were surveyed anticipated a decrease in travel bookings to the United States for the first quarter of 2010 relative to the first quarter of 2009. Economic concerns, airfare and fuel charges and pandemic/epidemic fears were reported as the leading drivers of the travel slump for the Japanese market (for travel to the United States).

In the third quarter of 2009, 849,687 people traveled from Japan to the United States, a drop of 5 percent from the third quarter of 2008. July 2009 was particularly tough, with 244,412 arrivals resulting in a year-over-year decline of 15 percent. September was the lone bright spot, with 309,435 arrivals resulting in an increase of 8 percent – the first monthly year-over-year increase in 15 months.

South Carolina looking for tourism comeback this year

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Are you going to South Carolina this year? Well, someone you know must be. The state expects its tourism busines to bounce back this year. This business is good for $18.4 billion in South Carolina economy, which is a pretty good reason to celebrate the revival of the tourism business. In 2006, tourism brought in only $16 billion,according to the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

Of course, it’s going to be tough to tell how many people actually sink money into the state until 2011. We still don’t even know how much the recesion cost South Carolina in 2009, as the $18.4 billion result is for the year before. The 2009 data won’t be around for another year, so we probably won’t know about a 2010 recovery until 2012.

According to Chad Prosser Director of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, golf is the key to South Carolina tourism, explaining to The Associated Press, “You see it very profoundly in the golf market. When they can’t golf up north it does increase our numbers.”

American travel overseas up 1 percent

by Tom Johansmeyer on

U.S. travelers understand that it’s as important to give as it is to receive. Thus, it’s almost just that American travel to foreign destination was up 1 percent from October 2008 to October 2009 — exactly the same rate at which foreign travel to the United States grew. The outbound air market posted a decline of 4 percent year-over-year, though it’s up from 8 percent in June.

Spending by Americans traveling to other countries reached $2.07 billion in October, a decline of 26 percent from the year before. Overseas spending for the first 10 months of 2009 amounted to $21.3 billion, representing a drop of 21 percent from the same period the year before.

Travel to most markets was down significantly, with Canada off 8 percent for October and 9 percent for the year and Mexico down 6 percent for the month and 12 percent for the year. Asia and Europe were flat for the month and 6 percent and 4 percent for the year, respectively.

Markets showing improvement in October were the Caribbean (up 11 percent), Oceania (up 12 percent), Africa (up 2 percent) and the Middle East (up 40 percent).

Online agencies bright spot in Spanish travel market

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The slump in the travel market has certainly affected Spain, which is among the top leisure destinations in Europe. Both foreign travel to Spain and domestic excursions within the country have suffered as a result of the global recession, with travel industry research firm PhoCusWright putting the decline at 12 percent for 2009. The traditional booking channels were hurt more than the online travel agencies, though, which only saw a 1 percent decline in the action. This is a bit of a shock, the research team reports, because the Spanish market has a lower rate of penetration for travel than other countries in Europe.

“While all travel segments contributed to the total market’s decline, each travel industry vertical has experienced varying levels of consumer pullback,” says Carroll Rheem, PhoCusWright director, research. “Car rental and hotel companies, particularly in Spanish cities like Madrid and Barcelona, have experienced some of the sharpest declines.”

The hotel industry in Spain had its worst drop in decades, losing 7 percent in 2008 and 9 percent more in 2009. International visitors, especially from the United Kingdom, plunged, and domestic tourism was squeezed, too. Excess capacity made the situation worse for the hotel business, as new properties hitting the market in 2008 upped the number of rooms to be filled by 3 percent.
Unlike many European markets, low-cost carriers did not post the market share gains against traditional carriers seen other markets. Both airline sectors suffered declines in demand due to both the travel slump and competition from high-speed domestic rail companies.

Online travel agencies, on the other hand, fared much better. They posted a revenue growth rate of 2.7 percent, with packaging becoming an increasingly lucrative service. PhoCusWright basically indicates that this is “a bright spot in the currently bleak Spanish travel landscape.”