Adobe’s "State of Travel" report offers the most comprehensive set of insights of its kind in the industry. This year we dive into the best day to book flights, booking trends among different generations, and where aspiring travelers get their inspiration for their next destination.

1. 2019 State of Travel Report
ADOBE DIGITAL INSIGHTS

2. • The Best time to book Domestic flights is generally 21 Days before the Departure Date
• Travel Research is predominantly conducted and growing on smartphones, but trip purchase and conversion
continues to be strong on Desktops & Laptops
• Younger & Older Generations are discovering and booking travel through different devices, perspectives, and
emerging channels
• Travel choices can be predicted based on the types of social apps that travelers are choosing to engage with, or
are more actively using
• Perceptions & behaviors toward travel are starkly different amongst Men & Women, especially in relation to
vacation time, safety, and trip planning
• Flight & Hotel sites experiencing healthy YoY site traffic increases, but Cruise sites are lagging behind with more
muted growth
State of Travel: Key Findings

3. Best Time To Buy: Domestic Flights
• The Best time to book an average domestic flight
is approximately 21 Days before the departure
date
• The Worst time to book an average domestic
flight is approximately 5 Days before the
departure date
• The opportunity to buy at the best price sits in a
zone that comes right before the holiday spike,
which is primarily driven by last-minute bookings

4. Best Time To Buy: Labor Day Weekend
• The Best time to book a flight for the Labor Day
Holiday is slightly later than average at 38 Days
before the Departure date
• Conventional wisdom suggests booking early as
possible a holiday weekend like Labor day.
However, there is a stronger price advantage, in
booking in the 38-49 days range.

5. • Airlines are experiencing a healthy online growth: +20% increase in visits since Jan 2017
• Cruises are adapting to the digital world slower with only 12% growth since Jan 2017
• Hotel online visits are growing quite quickly at +17% since Jan 2017
Site Traffic Growth for Travel Sites

6. • Smartphones are a growing driver for Travel research, especially with Airline & Hotel Sites, but purchase and
conversion continues to be strong on Desktops & Laptops
Device Insights for Travel
RESEARCH PURCHASE
Vs.

7. • 1 in 3 adults feel that they don’t get enough time from
work for travelling
• While females report having a strong interest and desire
to travel, they feel more impacted by work-life factors
that can make travel prohibitive like cost, limited
vacation time, and children
Travel Perceptions by Gender

8. • Interest in International Vacations decrease as travelers
get older, in favor of domestic excursions
• Propensity to post pictures to social media also fades as
travelers age
• The importance of how eco-friendly a trip is most
important to Gen-Z and Baby Boomer generations
Generational Trends in Travel

9. • Regular LinkedIn Users are 35% more likely to participate in Travel Rewards
Programs
Social & AI Influences on Travel Choices…
Travelers that use Instagram regularly are 45% more
likely to prefer staying at an AirBnB while on vacation
People that expect to travel more,
will me more willing to consider AI
travel suggestions…

10. • Travelers primarily search hotels through Search Engines, but younger generations are discovering Hotels through
Social Media
• Hotels having a social media presence is 2x as important to 18-24 Year Olds than any other generation
Hotel Discovery Channels

11. • Those who report travelling internationally have more travel apps installed on their devices, than those who report
travelling domestically, exclusively
• Travelers are 50% more likely to feel safe traveling alone, if they’ve traveled outside of their home state in the past year
• People who have travelled internationally are less concerned by airline crash reports than those who have not
• 1 out of 3 of travelers check the airplane model when traveling
International v. Domestic Travelers

12. State of Travel| June 2019
METHODOLOGY AND GLOSSARY
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• Between May 3rd-May 7th, 2019 2,007 U.S. adults aged 18-55 completed a web survey about their travel planning
habits, and social media. All consumers were required to own a smartphone.
• Adobe’s report offers the most comprehensive set of insights of its kind in the industry based
on the analysis of over 1 trillion visits to retail sites and 55 million SKUs. Adobe Analytics measures
transactions from 80 of the top 100 U.S. online retailers – more than any other technology company.