Consumer Travel & The Media. [INSIGHT]

Nearly a quarter (23%) of Americans are planning vacation travel in the next six months, making the category the top “big ticket” item they plan to purchase in the period, according to Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) analysis entitled “Consumer Travel & The Media.” Falling directly behind travel in spending intentions are computers (16%), furniture (14%) and a new car (11%). The findings also reveal that these soon-to-be travelers are heavier media users than the general population, pointing to advertising opportunities – particularly within digital – for airline, hotel, and cruise marketers.

In a typical week, the internet and TV each reach an overwhelming majority of this coveted group of consumers. However, digital’s reach point difference among travel intenders is higher than that for television. On a weekly basis, the internet reaches 94 percent of intended travelers, in comparison to 85 percent of the general population reached. The comparable TV numbers are 97 percent versus 89 percent.

Other notable media usage findings among intended travelers include:

On weekdays, internet weekly reach among intended travelers approaches parity with TV (91% internet vs. 95% TV)

Soon-to-be travelers are more likely to surf the internet (91% vs. 82%), listen to radio (77% vs. 69%), and read magazines (61% vs. 51%) and newspapers (58% vs. 50%) than the general population

They are far more likely to send and read emails than the average American (94% vs. 83%)

Over one third (36%) report that online communities and social networking are among their favorite online activities, markedly higher than the average American (29%)

“As advertisers in the travel industry plan for winter vacation travel marketing, the demand seems promising,” said Sherrill Mane, Senior Vice President, Research, Analytics and Measurement, IAB. “With travel intenders spending more time consuming digital media than the average person, a mix of media buys is going to be necessary to influence this audience. Clearly, digital media need to serve as a critical portion of the media plan in order to reach potential travel-goers for the holiday season.”

Investigating mobile device ownership among those planning to travel in the next six months, the analysis uncovered that they are more likely than the average U.S. adult to own an iPhone (25% vs. 20%). In addition, they exhibit slightly higher smartphone ownership across Androids (30% vs. 26%) and Blackberries (10% vs. 8%) than the typical American.

Those who plan on vacation travel are also somewhat more likely to download apps to their mobile devices (69% travel intenders vs. 66% general population). More striking is their greater rates of app usage across the board. For example, travel-seekers tend to say they use apps within the six most popular categories more than those in the general population:

Games (70% travel intenders vs. 66% general population)
Weather (69% travel intenders vs. 57% general population)
Entertainment (60% travel intenders vs. 54% general population)
Social Networking (58% travel intenders vs. 52% general population)
Radio (45% travel intenders vs. 39% general population)
Travel (53% travel intenders vs. 38% general population)

“Travel intenders’ mobile device ownership and deep involvement with apps speaks to the fact that this audience wants to connect digitally on-the-go,” said Anna Bager, Vice President and General Manager, Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, IAB. “The findings point to a strong mobile marketing opportunity for marketers who are offering flights, hotel rooms, resort packages and cruises.”

To download report CLICK on link below;
http://www.iab.net/media/file/IAB-Consumer-Travel-and-Media.pdf>