Business Passengers Book At The Last Minute
Given the responsive nature of business travel, it is no surprise that lead-in times are short amongst business passengers, with 47% stating they do not book their business accommodation till 7 days or less before booking their business trip.
Hotel Booking lead-in times: % score
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However, in the case of weekend or city breakers, 35% will wait 7 days or less before booking a hotel to get the best last-minute deals. And an astonishing 2% of passengers (of a single North American airline) stated they do not book any city-break accommodation at all until arriving at their destination! Main vacation planning sees a longer cycle, but surprisingly even 31% of these holidaymakers will wait up to 4 weeks or less before booking holiday accommodation.
Inspiration
Alongside beautiful destination articles, inflight magazines feature expert Hotel Reviews targeting the destinations of the magazine’s airline. 73% of readers actively look for hotel reviews in the magazine, with a slightly higher 74% amongst business passengers. And as established earlier, for those 47% of business travellers who book under a week, these hotel reviews and advertising are still relevant for booking even within the monthly print cycle of an inflight magazine.
Inspiration leads to response
During the course of a journey, airline passengers will mostly plan their next trip during their flights, with the largest group (22%) stating that their plane-time is the place where they consider a next vacation. The “moderate” levels of mental alertness that have been measured inflight are known to promote an aspirational mindset seeking information – the perfect time to present inspirational hotel and tourism products to passengers using inflight media.
86% of readers say they look for Tourism & Hotel advertising in the inflight magazine; this high interest not surprisingly leads to high response, with 23% of readers who had looked for information on hotels in the inflight magazine stating they had gone on to book.