Report: Money may be tight but travel is still important

Despite the current economic troubles in the US, consumers are still visiting travel sites to research trips and deals or just to dream. That means marketers would be well served to continue advertising with the most visited travel hubs.

by Kristina Knight

According to a new report from Hitwise, almost 40% of all travel category visits in November were placed with hubs in the top ten list. On average consumers spent 8 minutes, 53 seconds on-site; although this is not a change from October visits, it does show a slight decline (less than 2%) year over year.

What are the most visited hubs?

Mapquest continues to hold the top spot with an 11.96% market share; Google Maps follows with a 10% market share. Yahoo Maps (3.2% market share), Southwest Airlines (3.04% market share) and Expedia (2.83% market share) rounded out the top five.

It is interesting to note that of the top five sites, only Expedia could be termed a social site; the mapping sites are just that - maps - and Southwest is an airline hub. So it would seem that consumers interested in travel are interested in very specific information, be that directions or a travel fare.

That does not mean that marketers should avoid hubs such as Expedia, however, because when looking at the ten most visited sites, Travelocity, Orbitz, Priceline and Yahoo Travel all make an appearance. It would seem, then, that consumers are looking for destination information as well as specific direction/fare information.