Online travel OTAs turn focus
in the sector, noting: “Europe’s OTAs are becoming more creative with new business models, such as subscription services and membership discounts, as they look to maintain revenue.”
Mobile bookings One area where growth has not been as fast as anticipated is in mobile bookings. Benati says: “Mobile is still one quarter
of total bookings – mostly flights and hotels. This is expected to rise to about 30%
ONLINE PURCHASES, 2018 FIGURE 33: % all adults, all purchases, last 3 months +2 +1 %
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0 UK showed highest rate in EU Source: Eurostat 77% 68% 50% 55% 43% 26%
EU France Germany Italy Spain UK
+2 +3 +3 -1 Change YoY
by 2020. We expected it to go faster.” She notes: “In general, mobile bookings
in Europe have plateaued. It went very fast at the beginning. It is likely it has reached a peak for air and hotel [bookings]. “Why? It very much depends on the type of experience people want. Mobile is good for booking, but does every player supply the right booking experience? “OTAs are still trying to find the right
strategy for mobile and assessing how to remove friction from the path to purchase – how to make it a zero-friction experience.” Benati adds: “There is a difference
between the effort [required] to complete a booking and the effort to get the right experience. How fast can I get to what I want? And how fast can I complete a booking?” She notes a study in the US across 600 companies in different industries found it took an average 22 clicks for a consumer to check out on online. Benati says: “The question is what can
THE UK tops the rates for online travel and accommodation bookings in major European
markets (figure 32). The UK also tops rates for online purchases in general (Figure 33). Rates of online
travel and accommodation booking are higher among older age groups than 16-24s (Figure 34)
you do on a mobile beyond booking? There is an untapped area in destination experiences. All the major players are focused on how to offer the best in-destination experiences, and that can be done by mobile.” She asserts: “New technology creates new touchpoints for consumers, and how customers make choices will evolve as technology evolves.”
%
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0 16-24 25-34 35-44 20 | Travel Weekly Europe Report 2019 45-54 55-64
FIGURE 34: ONLINE PURCHASE OF TRAVEL & ACCOMMODATION, 2018 By age
64% 54% 43% 31% 28% 14% 47% 34% 22% 43% 48% 50% 48%48% 39% 67% 54% 43% 17% 40% 33% 44% 35% 13% 32%32% 25% 9% 24% 16% 21% 23% 11% 4% 65-74
Source: Eurostat
48% 37%
EU France Germany Italy Spain UK
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