According to new research by digital analytics firm Contentsquare, nearly half (41 per cent) of all visitors to travel and hospitality industry websites are left frustrated by their experiences.
Based on an analysis of 20.6 billion page views and 3.8 billion sessions on 106 sites, the 2023 Travel and Hospitality Digital Experience Benchmark report looks at the digital experiences of consumers across four sectors: travel agents and services, car and transportation, hotels and resorts, and entertainment and restaurants.
Chief among its key findings is the experience of the “unknown traveller”, who (like most consumers) expects smooth digital interactions and “seamless multi-channel experiences that make things easy for them”.
But thanks to hurdles like technical bugs or sub-par site design, more than two in five (41 per cent) of these visitors’ experiences are marred by disappointment.
While overall traffic to travel and hospitality sites rose by 77 per cent year on year in 2022, sales conversion rates fell by a small, but still significant, margin of 1.4 per cent.
The report puts this down, possibly, to a drop in site user engagement on sites, with session depth, time spent per session, and scroll rates all dropping last year.
Meanwhile, bounce rates across travel and hospitality sector sites last year grew.
Worryingly, it flags a new trend towards ‘grazing’ among consumers, in which potential customers visit sites more often, but with less engagement.
Consumers an “unknown breed”
“Today’s tech-savvy traveller in Asia Pacific is a new, still-evolving and unknown breed,” Contentsquare Asia Pacific and Japan Senior Vice President Albert Nel said.
“The customer experience can make a big difference to a travel and hospitality organisation’s bottom line, particularly in the current economic climate.
“While brands have steadily improved their digital experiences over the years, our data tells us that frustration remains an all-too-common emotion felt by website users.”
In order to improve consumers’ digital experiences, Nel recommends travel and hospitality brands “leverage data to better understand the unique needs of the APAC traveller, many of whom are digital natives”.
“Organisations who strategically respond to these insights will be able to maximise efficiency, deliver the digital experiences that consumers increasingly expect and emerge winners in the sector’s revival.”
For Contentsquare’s full 2023 Travel and Hospitality Digital Experience Benchmark report, click here.
