Expedia Traveller Sentiment Report

Before focussing on the bespoke consumer research that gives the study its title the report sees a number of pages devoted to plotting trends in overall levels of searches on Expedia brands.  These charts reveal marked fluctuation by global region and individual time period during 2020, and that the majority of searches relate to travel planned within a 0-21 day time horizon.  The most popular reason for visiting an Expedia site remains to ‘dream’ rather than to ‘shop’. 

The bulk of analysis relates to consumer research undertaken in October 2020 with 1,000 respondents in each of 11 separate markets polled. 

Six-in-ten reported having trips cancelled due to the pandemic, while Millennials were the demographic most likely to have taken a leisure trip since the onset of the pandemic.  Japanese, Canadians, Germans and Brits were the most uncertain about travel in 2021 while Chinese and Mexicans felt the most positive. 

There is no real pick up in the proportion of Europeans saying they are planning to take a trip until Q3 of 2021, lagging other world regions. 

It was widely felt that travelling domestically was safer than going abroad, and unsurprisingly travel by car was seen as the safest mode of transport (in relation to Covid-19 risks). 

The majority, seven-in-ten, said that flexibility would boost their confidence regarding booking a trip, namely the option to cancel all trip elements with a full refund.    

While this may ebb with time, it is interesting to note the study found that consumers were seeking much more information about the destination they were thinking of visiting than was the case before the pandemic and not just in relation to health and hygiene matters.