Las Vegas and Disney Will Be the Most Popular Travel Destinations for U.S. Vacationers This Summer

In an analysis of nearly 1,000 travel-related keywords searched an estimated 2.4 billion times on Google during January and February 2012, AdGooroo found Disney accounted for 7.3 percent of all travel-related searches followed by Las Vegas at 6.3 percent, placing these two vacation destinations ahead of all others explored by online searchers, followed by Florida (5.7 percent), the Caribbean (3.2 percent), Mexico (2.1 percent) and Hawaii (1.1 percent).

The summer travel season is almost here and digital marketing intelligence provider AdGooroo (www.adgooroo.com) knows where Americans will be going. Namely, Las Vegas and Disney. In an analysis of nearly 1,000 travel-related keywords searched an estimated 2.4 billion times on Google during January and February 2012, AdGooroo found Disney accounted for 7.3 percent of all travel-related searches followed by Las Vegas at 6.3 percent, placing these two vacation destinations ahead of all others explored by online searchers, followed by Florida (5.7 percent), the Caribbean (3.2 percent), Mexico (2.1 percent) and Hawaii (1.1 percent).

“Travel is one of the most keyword-competitive industries”

The study was conducted using AdGooroo’s Industry Insight search marketing dashboard, which measures search data for more than 160 industries as well as virtually any advertiser.
The overall most popular travel topic searched was not destinations, however, but transportation (airlines, trains, auto rentals) at 33.6 percent of all searches, and lodging/hotels at 21.3 percent, suggesting Americans may already have a good idea where they are going this summer but need to find out how they will get there and where they will stay. The next most popular travel topics were destinations (17.7 percent), ticketed attractions (10.8 percent), cruises (9.1 percent), booking sites (3.6 percent) and travel packages (3.1 percent).
Among all travel topics, keywords focused on travel packages recorded the highest clickthrough rate, 9.8 percent. Keyword searches related to booking sites such as Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity generated the lowest clickthrough rate at 2.7 percent.
As evidence of a still-sluggish economy, the study found significant bargain-hunting activity, with 13.3 percent of total travel-related searches containing words such as coupon, discount, cheap, low-price and deal.
“Travel is one of the most keyword-competitive industries,” said Richard Stokes, founder and CEO of AdGooroo. “So it represents fertile ground for search marketers in the travel category to apply Industry Insight and deepen their understanding both of their marketplace and the competitive landscape.”
For additional insight into the study, read an in-depth analysis by AdGooroo’s senior vice president of research and analytics, Gregg Hamilton.