More than half (60%) of the 3.3 million UK consumer online searches for hotels made a month ahead of the festive season were for domestic stays.
Domestic hotels get festive search boost
More than half (60%) of the 3.3 million UK consumer online searches for hotels made a month ahead of the festive season were for domestic stays.
Analysis by digital marketing agency Greenlight found UK online search volumes for hotels were up 6.5%.
Hotels in York and Edinburgh saw the highest quarter-on-quarter uplift in the domestic sector.
Demand for hotel accommodation in the UK saw the highest rise with volumes up 13%, from 1.8 million in August to more than 2 million in November.
But online search volumes for hotels located in short-haul destinations declined almost 2%. Those for long-haul destinations increased marginally, by just 0.6%.
London topped domestic hotel searches, with the capital featuring in three of the ten most popular search phrases. Cumulatively, the terms ‘hotels in london’, ‘london hotels’ and ‘cheap hotels in london’, accounted for 11% of queries.
However, search demand for hotels in York and Edinburgh saw the highest gains – up 150% and 144% respectively.
Combined, the terms ‘hotels in york’ and ‘york hotels’ totalled 82,600 in November compared to 33,100 in August.
Those for ‘hotels in edinburgh’ and ‘edinburgh hotels’ leapt from 27,100 in August to 66,200 in November.
Laterooms.com was the most visible website in the organic listings, attaining a 73% share of visibility.
Laterooms.com was also the most prominent site to queries for domestic hotels. It was visible to a volume of more than 1.5 million searches in this sub-sector, over 230,000 more than its nearest rival, tripadvisor.co.uk, according to Greenlight.
Booking.com emerged the most visible advertiser overall in paid media listings, attaining an 88% share of voice.
Booking.com also topped Greenlight’s league table charting the most visible advertisers in the paid listings for domestic destinations, achieving a 91% share of voice.
