Despite rising costs, travel spending is taking off, with weekly booking rates doubling

Consumers’ desire to travel once again has caused 2022 weekly booking rates to be twice as high as what was seen in 2020 or 2021.

That’s according to a new travel benchmarks report from Quantum Metric, the Continuous Product Design platform for customer-driven digital experiences, that combined anonymized platform data and consumer survey responses to uncover this year’s travel booking trends.

As guidelines ease, travel is seeing an expected boost globally. Findings show that March 2022 saw the highest volume of traffic in over two years, with a 142 per cent increase over March 2020. Increased bookings are being driven by consumer desire to make up for lost travel time, especially for the two in three (65 per cent) who had a trip cancelled due to the pandemic.

Report findings show this is driving booking rates significantly higher than what’s been seen in the last two years. Average conversion rates in the U.S. for March 2022 are double what was seen in 2020, while the UK saw an increase of 84 per cent between 2020 and 2022.

Added to this, consumers are “getting revenge” on their lost holidays by expanding their budgets for travel. Half of consumers (54 per cent) will spend more on their rebooked trips and one in four (27 per cent) say it will be a significant amount. Average cart values reflect this, with more than a 26 per cent increase in U.S. and UK cart values over the past four months alone.

“Travel experiences are more emotionally driven than ever before as consumers look to reclaim the adventure and sense of endless opportunity that come with booking a trip,” said Mario Ciabarra, CEO of Quantum Metric.

“For airlines, hotels, and other travel brands it’s important that the digital experience not only be effortless but personalized to their customers’ needs. Those brands that can truly understand and empathize with their customers could earn their lifetime loyalty.”

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