Sojern to provide regular data insights into impact of COVID-19 on travel

Insights available into demand by region, country and destinations

Travel digital marketing insights platform Sojern is providing regular updates on the coronavirus pandemic and the impact on people’s travel intent captured by its data.

Weekly updates on the firm’s blog will provide insight into demand by region, country and major destinations to track the scale of the decline and to watch for signs of recovery.

The firm said: “With more than 118,000 infected as of March 10, COVID-19 is having and will continue to have a significant impact on many industries. The travel industry is no exception, and in fact, maybe the hardest hit.

“With our access to real-time traveller audiences and unmatched visibility into global travel demand, we’re in a unique position to share out the current travel trends at the forefront of marketers’ minds.

“In this blog series we’ll take a look at the data in order to aid travel marketers in their assessment of this worldwide event.

“Our goal is to give marketers access to travel industry information on a weekly basis. They can use these trends to inform their marketing strategies during this period and be prepared for the recovery once the situation stabilises.”

Sojern added: “As expected we see a noticeable shift towards leisure travel in today’s uncertain business climate.

“Large businesses in particular, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple, and more have instituted a work from home policy through the next few weeks or possibly months. Business travel has reflected this, with business and bleisure travel shrinking.

“Our data shows that primary travel intent is shifting towards leisure travellers. Additionally, among leisure travellers, the demand for travel in the US has shifted away from couples and families. Solo travellers for weekend and 5+ day leisure trips have even increased.

“As airlines and hotels have flooded the market with deals it’s possible that younger travellers, who travel more and spend less, have taken the chance to search and book trips on a budget.

“There is no doubt that marketers around the world will have to adjust their marketing strategies over the coming months. We’ll continue to share more insights as we monitor the situation and provide recommendations in this blog series.”