Sojern data reveals desktop still rules for travel search

Firm analyses billions of travel intent signals annually to better understand booking behaviour Continue reading →

The latest global travel insights report from marketing platform Sojern highlights the continuing resilience of desktop despite the rising importance of mobile.

Sojern’s analyses billions of travel intent signals annually for its quarterly reports to travel brands better understand the booking behaviour of travellers and how to reach them.

While in North America, 72% of travel searches happened on desktop during the second quarter of 2018 in Asia-Pacific that figure was 67% and in Latin America it was 64%.

Though desktop reigns supreme in much of the world, mobile search is dominant in two regions. Europe saw 53% of travel searches take place on mobile while the Middle East and Africa it was 52%.

Jackie Lamping, vice president of marketing at Sojern, said: “Even with mobile devices nearing global saturation, we continue to see that travel planning search volume remains desktop-heavy.

“While there’s clear evidence that mobile is playing an increasing role in the dreaming and inspiration phases of trip planning—mostly driven through social sharing on Facebook and Instagram—travellers still come back to their desktop in order to research options in more detail, compare prices, and ultimately arrive at a confident decision.”

Sojern data shows that only 28% of travel searches in the US came from mobile last quarter.

Lamping added: “Many consumers still feel that the price comparison shopping experience is better on desktop—whether that’s due to faster wifi or website load times, access to more content, or the ability to open multiple browsing windows simultaneously.”

More: Access the report here