Commentary

Travel: Behavior, Location Tells Me Where You're Going

by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, February 27, 2013

As the U.S. heads into the travel season and marketers start thinking about targeting those on the go, eXelate releases data analyzing travel destinations. Where travelers go helps marketers to understand consumers' personalities through activities.

Travel choices vary based on location. Pacific Northwest residents typically look to Hawaii for tropical vacation during the cooler weather, while in the Gulf States like Florida or New Orleans look toward the Caribbean, according to eXelate data.

Demographics are also important. Parts of New York City, San Francisco and Houston, where the Asian population tends to be highest, are where Asia is a common destination. Those traveling to Asia appear more closely linked to those traveling home and to visit family and friends rather than for vacation.

The study found a strong connection between large urban centers -- Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth -- and an interest in European travel. Mexico is the most popular destination across much of America.

Geospatial intelligence is critical to giving context to data, and the range of motivations across the country within the travel segment should lead to an understanding of nuances for media campaigns, according to eXelate.

Research from Scott Galloway, founder of L2 Think Tank and NYU professor of marketing, highlights the importance of online marketing for the travel industry. The majority, 92% of travelers, now book online, 63% consult reviews before booking online, and 81% of hotel brands have mobile-optimized sites.

behavioral targeting, big data, travel

2 comments about "Travel: Behavior, Location Tells Me Where You're Going".

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Pete Austin from Fresh Relevance, February 28, 2013 at 5:09 a.m.
I'm puzzled by the headline, because the text suggests that demographics (especially wealth and family origin) is the most important factor when considering long-distance travel. Location seems almost irrelevant (except for the trivial correlation that wealthy people travel more and also live near big cities) as evidenced by your examples of travel to Europe from west coast cities and to Mexico from everywhere. And I can see no discussion of behavior.
Reply

Sean Cook from eXelate, February 28, 2013 at 2:07 p.m.

Pete, I work at eXelate, and you're right that behavior seems to have made it more into the title than the post here. We just put up a bit more at our own blog here:

http://blog.exelate.com/2013/02/28/where-would-you-rather-be-a-closer-look-at-travel/

The first word in this posts title would more comfortably be "Demography." Location, though, is highly relevant. Location, for example, has a large impact on where you're going to head for next year's tropical vacation.

This is a fairly quick look at our data, but I do think the top map displays some great spatial auto-correlation and invites a lot more discussion.