Changes in leisure travelers' online search behavior

While the percentage of leisure travelers who report making reservations online has grown more than thirty-seven percent (37%) since the year 2000, "Consumers' search behavior has changed in recent years as people have become more familiar with search technology and the number of travel planning/purchasing sites has grown exponentially," said Peter C. Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership.

According to the just-released National Travel MONITORSM, fully sixty-six percent (66%) of leisure travelers now use the Internet to plan some aspect of their travel (versus 35% in 2000), while fifty-six percent (56%) now report making reservations online. The nationally representative survey of 1,590 active travelers was conducted during the months of February and March, 2009, and is co-authored annually by Ypartnership and Yankelovich, Inc.

Travelers visit search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN first when considering vacation destination alternatives. The Web sites of a specific countries or destination boards are visited next, followed by online travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity.

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