Lack of information hampering Egypt recovery, says Hitwise

Lack of information online may be hampering Egypt’s recovery, according to a case study by competitive intelligence service Hitwise.

Lack of information online may be hampering Egypt’s recovery, according to a case study by competitive intelligence service Hitwise.

Demand for travel to Egypt dropped off after the Arab Spring uprising earlier this year, with Egypt-related searches dropping 16.5% year on year.

The study was carried out before the latest outbreak of violence in protest against the country’s military leders ahead of Egypt’s first fully democratic elections.

The fifth most popular online search is now ‘Is it safe to travel to Egypt’, according to Hitwise.

However, the success rate for this search is only 24%, suggesting there is a lack of information available encouraging consumers back to the destination.

The study also lists the top Egypt-related searches as ‘Egypt’, ‘Egypt holidays’, ‘Sharm El Sheikh’ and ‘Egypt Air’.

The Tui hotel brand ‘Sensatori’ was referenced in three of top fifteen fast moving search terms year on year.

With recent plunges in temperature, the year-on-year searches for ‘winter sun’ variations has increased 92% year on year.
 
Of these ‘Where to go for winter sun’ was the 5th most popular but only resulted in a 35% search click success rate.

Given the current economic climate, cost effectiveness has also emerged as a dominant consumer consideration with ‘cheap’ featuring in three of the top fifteen searches for winter sun holidays.

According to the study, a consumer trend of planning ahead is suggested with ‘winter sun holiday 2012’ as the 6th most searched phrase.

Hitwise advised airlines and holiday companies to look at these findings as a promotional opportunity.