A look at how the online travel booking industry has fared so far
- The online travel industry generated revenue worth $667.55 billion in 2023. The travel industry is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.99% between 2023 and 2030—when it’s expected to hit $1569.25 billion.
- China has the highest growth potential in the online travel booking industry. This growth can be attributed to the growth of the middle-class income group, an increase in disposable income, and wider access to the Internet.
- Flight demand in 2023 was roughly 95% of what it was before the coronavirus pandemic.
- In the six surveyed countries, 50% of travelers planned to travel more in March and May 2023, compared to the same period the previous year.
- 31% of those who changed their travel plans in 2023 planned to reduce travel or take shorter trips due to increasing cost-of-living prices, while 27% opted for booking closer-to-home trips.
How people book—researching and buying behaviors
- According to the Trends Global Survey, 80% of global travelers surveyed feel it’s important to be able to book their trips entirely online, with 86% of Millennials and 83% of Gen Zers leading the charge.
- 76% of global travelers said they look for travel apps that reduce the friction and stress of travel.
- Last year, the top five online resources used by most travelers were: OTAs (80%), search engines (61%), social media (58%), airline websites (54%), and meta-travel websites (51%).
- Travelers spent over 5 hours consuming online travel content to seek inspiration and plan their trip in the 45 days before finally booking their journey.
- Social media had the greatest influence on leisure travelers’ travel destinations, with 75% of travelers saying social media posts inspired their trips to a specific destination in 2023.
- Most American travelers (92%) in 2023 said that they wanted to save on travel by focusing on accommodation prices instead of amenities (39%) and driving instead of flying (35%).
- After price and location, here are the main things travelers considered when booking accommodation in 2023:
- Reviews from other travelers (29%)
- Free WiFi (24%)
- Accommodation facilities (23%)
- Room photos (22%)
- In the consideration stage of planning and booking corporate travel, videos, and photos are the two most critical factors that affected global travelers’ decisions in 2022. They also looked at a hotel’s ability to showcase its amenities and guest experience while deciding on a place to stay.
- Three of the most impactful deal breakers for most travelers were bland and unappealing hotel rooms, non-aesthetic food photos, and boring content presentation.
- 17% of people in the United States have bought some form of travel app subscription to help them plan their travels in 2022.
- By June 2023, travel app log-ins were 87% higher than by the end of 2019.
Online booking statistics indicate a renewed outlook of travelers worldwide
- In 2023, a large majority of travelers (72%) said they preferred to book their trips online, compared to only 12% that preferred using a travel agency.
- Of those that book travel online, 53% cited it’s because of the speed at which they can plan their trip (perfect for last-minute trips), 47% said it’s easier to compare prices and 42% said it’s better to find cheaper deals.
- It’s forecasted that 76% of total revenue in the tourism and travel sector will be generated through online sales by 2028.
- Monday was the most popular day for booking travel, and Saturday was the quietest day.
- 63% of travelers believed technology plays a key role in controlling health risks during trips and reduces travel anxiety in a post-pandemic world.
- The percentage of shoppers that abandoned their travel purchase was 85% for desktop users and 91% for those buying on a mobile device.
- In 2023, 48% used their mobile device for destination research, 47% to compare transport and accommodation prices, and 40% to book flights and hotels.
- 97.8% of travel executives stated that AI would have an impact over the next 1-5 years in the industry.
- Over a fifth (22%) of global travelers have used ChatGPT or similar AI chatbots to plan travel.
- Four out of five travelers who booked online visited an OTA "at some point" before booking, "even if travelers booked on another website."
Biggest blockers and frustrations in online travel booking
- 45.1% of travelers said they were concerned about how much data companies hold on them in 2023 and only 23.1% felt in control of their data.
- In a study of 15,000 Tripadvisor reviews, it was found that flight irregularities emerged as the most discussed topic (36%) for travelers, compared to 20% in 2019.
- 43% of Americans didn’t like booking travel, including 23% of GenZ travelers. The experience gap between booking travel and actually traveling is notably high.
- One in three travelers prioritized flexibility over all other factors when making reservations.
- 74% of travel agents surveyed believed buying and selling travel plans could be simplified. 86% of agents were in favor of modernizing the user experience to boost online travel sales.
- One of the biggest factors hampering travel bookings was the lack of transparency. Comparing too many options is challenging and becomes a roadblock.
- A third of families considered the process of searching for the best flights and making online hotel bookings extremely time-consuming—23% of them didn’t enjoy booking trips.
- 43% of business travelers felt frustrated that the search function of travel sites was limited to the budget or the date.
- 60% of surveyed travelers believed travel options were filled with hidden costs and were not upfront enough.
- 45% of travelers preferred booking a trip from start to finish from a single website that presents options for flights, accommodations, car rentals, and extras.
- Millennials booked their travel needs via travel agencies. They’d book their hotel via travel agencies, however, 52% would look at the hotel’s website for more information.
- Users spent, on average, 40% more via desktop than mobile devices when booking online. SaleCycle said that “perhaps users feel more comfortable booking high-ticket holidays on a bigger screen.”
Travel booking is going mobile
- People used mobiles to browse more than purchase since 60% of all online traffic came from mobile, however, desktop accounted for 62.5% of online sales.
- The mobile users’ average online order value has grown by 29% since 2020.
- The mobile travel booking market is projected to grow at an anticipated value of $612.5 billion by 2031.
- In 2020, the gap between desktop and mobile booking sales was 75% compared to 2022 where the gap was reduced to 40%.
- Almost one-third (32%) of travelers used a website through a mobile device to book travel and 23% used a mobile app directly in 2023.
How is online business travel booking evolving
- 87% of business travelers and corporate travel managers wanted more simplified booking services and processes. 42% of them thought booking a trip was actually more challenging than traveling itself.
- 82% of travel agents reported a need for digital retailing for both leisure and business travel. A better customer experience is a priority for both types of travel.
- Travel booking fell short of the top three easiest buying experiences behind booking a restaurant online, buying clothes online, and browsing and buying electronic/physical goods online.
- For 38% of respondents, the average frequency of business trips was once every 2-3 months. 32% traveled once or twice every month for business purposes.
- Business travelers spent 52 days getting inspired and planning their trip, and 43 days between booking and starting their trip.
- 87% of employees think that in-person meetings and business travel are important to company growth.
- However, despite there being more interest in business travel, companies were worried about their carbon footprint. In fact, four in 10 European companies and a third of American companies said they needed to reduce travel per employee by more than 20% to meet their 2030 sustainability targets.
- In 2024, 63% of companies are investing more in sustainable travel and 80% of business travelers want more sustainable options when booking.
- 88% of corporate travelers want full transparency into what they are buying when buying online.
Role of online travel agents in a post-pandemic world
- 41% of those surveyed preferred booking via online travel agencies (OTAs) while 29% booked via travel agents or operators. Around 20% of them booked via travel agents.
- Demographical data from North America showed that people under 35 years of age were more inclined to use OTAs for booking hotel rooms.
- The average browser abandonment rate for OTAs was approximately 81.54%, indicating how travelers frequently used online travel booking websites to find and compare options.
- In a scenario where prices are identical on hotel websites and OTAs, 70% of respondents said they would book via an OTA.
- Some of the biggest reasons why people preferred OTAs were the security, convenience, loyalty discounts, and credible online reviews that they offered.
- Booking trends indicate that 12% of travelers thought booking websites should provide a much faster and more frictionless experience than booking directly on hotel websites.
- Out of the 141 pages that travelers looked at 45 days before traveling, OTAs were the most viewed (67), followed by airline websites (33).
- OTA’s are used by 80% of travelers before making any purchase.
- 61% of travelers visited an OTA before making a booking on a hotel site.
Travelers take a stand for sustainability
- 74% of travelers thought people needed to make more sustainable choices to save the planet for future generations.
- 64 % of American travelers said in 2023 that they were looking for accommodation establishments with high sustainability innovation and practices.
- In 2023, 49% of travelers believed more sustainable travel options were too expensive, however, 43% said they were willing to pay extra for travel options with a sustainable certification.
- In 2022, 66% of travelers wanted travel companies to offer more sustainable travel choices. However, in 2023, that number increased to 74%.
- 76% of global travelers wanted to travel more sustainably in 2023.
- More than half (51%) of travelers said there weren’t enough sustainable travel options and 43% could recall seeing at least one product or service on a travel website that had to do with sustainable travel.
- Almost two-thirds of travelers (61%) said they wanted to use more environmentally-friendly modes of transport like trains.
- Almost 80% of travelers said they were willing to spend at least 10% more for eco-tourism and adventure travel in 2023.
- Global travelers were increasingly attentive to how far they traveled and what means they would take to make their journeys. 23% of them chose to minimize their carbon footprint by picking a destination closer to home.
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