Popular travel destinations for 2009, as Google see it

June 12, 2009
by Mark Johnson

As we all once again sit and hope good weather is ahead for the upcoming bank holiday, there is no guaranteeing the British weather these days. Therefore every year we travel in our millions to the sunnier climates of mainland Europe with Spain and the Greek islands often the most popular destinations.

This year however, with many people on smaller budgets and the Pound weakened, Google has seen large increases in searches for the North African and Eastern European destinations.

So far in 2009 YTD, searches relating to holidays in Turkey and Croatia have seen a growth of 78% and 54% respectively. Indeed Google expect search growth for these two locations to rise further; in 2008 search volume for Turkey reached a peak in August, while most searches for Croatia took place in June.

Searches for the more traditional British holiday destinations have been relatively modest. Not surprising since the value of the Pound has fallen 11% against the Euro in the last 6 months. Greece has seen 29% YoY growth, whilst Spain’s 19% YoY search query growth is still strong and means it still dominates the top locations on SkyScanner’s Top Travel destinations. But the larger uplifts in search query growth for the non-Eurozone destinations are likely to be an upshot of consumers seeking greater value for their money.

This time last year, when the Dollar to Pound ratio was around 2:1, search query volume for holidays in the USA was exceptionally high. Since then however, the US Dollar has strengthened 37% against the Pound, and consequently Google has experienced fewer searches for holidays in the US. In Q2 2008 Google saw an 18% increase in searches for Florida over a 10 week period from the beginning of April to the middle of June, but we feel that it is unlikely to experience such a sharp growth this year.

Whilst search query growth for holidays to the US is seeing relatively low growth, compared with previous years, other long haul destinations are experiencing YoY growth of around 40% in 2009. Unsurprisingly Dubai has experienced a very high 55% YoY search query growth. Out of the four long haul destinations shown in the above table Dubai is the closest, offers the cheapest flights and guarantees sun all year round.

For those smaller travel operators who specialise in these destinations the outlook for 2009 looks good, as being a specialist in something tends to be a good USP to have. For the big operators, it means a potential budget allocation rethink with more destinations to fight over and therefore more keywords to bid on.