Online Travel Takes Off Among U.S. Hispanics.

As the largest minority group in the United States, Hispanics are an important consumer segment for marketers in virtually every industry. And just as with the general market, Travel is the largest category of online spending among the U.S. Hispanic population, comScore says in it latest report. By successfully engaging Hispanic Internet users early in their online experience, travel marketers have a unique opportunity to establish brand preferences and loyalties at a time when interest in online travel is clearly high among this quickly growing population.

In June, more than 5.4 million U.S. Hispanics, or 43% of the U.S. Hispanic Internet population, visited a site in the travel category. While this penetration rate is slightly lower than the 49% found in the general market, usage of Travel sites by U.S. Hispanics is on pace to catch up quickly.

A comparison of the top ten Travel sites among the total U.S. Internet population and the U.S. Hispanic audience reveals distinct preferences among Hispanics. For example, while AOL Proprietary travel is ranked seventh among the general market, it is ranked fifth among U.S. Hispanics – above both Orbitz and Hotels.com. This comes as little surprise as previous comScore research has shown that Hispanics are more likely to access the Internet via AOL than the total U.S. market.

comScore also found that visitation by U.S. Hispanics to the Travel category overall has grown by 7% versus an average of the previous six months. This compares to growth of 4% among the total U.S. Internet population during the same period. In fact, every one of the top ten Travel sites has experienced double-digit growth in U.S. Hispanic visitation versus the six-month average. It is also important to note that each of the top ten Travel sites experienced a significantly higher increase in visitation (range of 11% to 124%) than the total category (7%). This indicates an increase in competitive shopping activity at Travel sites among U.S. Hispanics.

The researchers found that Hotels and Resorts was the fast growing category on the Web in June, increasing 19% versus May. And with the exception of just two properties, each of the top ten sites in the Hotels and Resorts category has grown by more than 20% versus an average of the previous six months. Lodging.com, which is ranked fifth among total Internet users, is particularly popular among U.S. Hispanics, ranking second in the Hotels and Resorts category. Accor, which owns a number of major hotel brands including Motel 6, Red Roof and Sofitel, grew by an impressive 125% versus an average of the previous six months.

An analysis of visitation to airline websites reveals distinct preferences among the U.S. Hispanic Internet population. For example, while Southwest, American Airlines and Delta enjoy the top three rankings among both total and Hispanic Internet populations, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, which offer full shopping and booking functionality in Spanish, are ranked significantly higher among U.S. Hispanic Internet users. In fact, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines are the only two major airlines with Web sites that reach a higher percentage of Spanish-preferred and bilingual Internet users than total U.S. Internet users. The success of these two sites in reaching the Hispanic market points to easily accessible Spanish language content and e-commerce functionality as a critical driver of site visitation and usage by this audience.

Not surprisingly, airlines that serve major Hispanic population centers and destinations, such as America West, Mexicana and AeroMexico, rank significantly higher among Hispanics compared to the total U.S. Internet population.

Finally, comScore says that total consumer online sales were $1.889 billion, up 36% versus the same week last year. Non-travel sales were $956 million, up 39% versus the same week last year. Travel sales rose 33% versus year-ago to $933 million.

Courtesy of http://www.MediaPost.com