Everything Destination Marketers Need to Know About Leisure Destination Selection

With sustained economic growth, falling unemployment and renewed consumer confidence, the U.S. firmly left the Great Recession behind in 2014. A new Phocuswright European and Global Edition report shows that as the year came to an end, plummeting energy prices and a slowdown in many parts of the world, including Europe, caused concern. France continues to struggle with very low GDP growth and stubbornly high unemployment. The U.K., which had been making steady progress, is also showing signs of a deterioration in economic activity. More ominously, Germany – long the powerhouse of the eurozone – narrowly avoided a recession in the third quarter of the year.

Travel, too, is a mixed bag. According to Phocuswright's Destination Unknown: How U.S. and European Travelers Decide Where to Go 2014, while more U.S. and German adults took leisure trips this year compared to last year, travel incidence in France and the U.K. was down. Yet travel spend increased across all four countries, reflecting higher prices and travelers' willingness to spend their disposable income on vacations.

Just as economic conditions have influenced consumers' decisions about whether to travel and how much to spend, evolving digital habits have influenced how travelers discover, research, shop and buy travel.

"With more and more information available online and easy access to it via mobile, the challenge for travelers is to find sources they trust," says Phocuswright's senior director, research, Charuta Fadnis. "Destination marketing organizations (DMOs) must leverage their unique position as the destination's brand custodians and connect travelers to trustworthy information from various offline and online sources, including travel guides, search engines, review sites and websites – and they must accomplish all this without losing focus on their mandate: keeping their destination front and center for prospective visitors."

Destination Unknown: How U.S. and European Travelers Decide Where to Go 2014 delves into the leisure travel destination selection process and provides insight into key motivating factors, preferences regarding offline and online information sources, and websites and apps used by travelers in the U.S., France, Germany and the U.K.

Topics include:

• Overall consumer travel trends in each market, including travel incidence, frequency and duration of trips, international travel and trip expenditure
• Destination selection patterns for domestic and international travelers (distinguishing between European travelers who travel within versus outside of Europe)
• Timing of when travelers choose their destination and the specialized process that sets destination selection apart from other travel decisions
• Motivators for selecting a travel destination and specific sources of influence
• Information sources and websites used
• Discussion of the most influential types of social media and online features in each market

Purchase Phocuswright's Destination Unknown: How U.S. and European Travelers Decide Where to Go 2014 for insight into market differences and how to influence the destination selection process.

NOTE: This report is expected to publish February 13.