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Women Book More Online Travel Than Men

January 2, 2005
The common stereotype is that men are more Web savvy than women, but a new survey shows that when it comes to booking travel online, women take a backseat to no one.

The survey, by BURST! Media, finds that women convert from researching a specific online travel product to making an online travel purchase at a higher rate than men. This is especially true for car rentals and airline tickets.

Nearly two-thirds of women versus 58 percent of men who have researched auto rentals online have also made an auto rental reservation online - and 64.6 percent of women versus 59.0 percent of men who researched airline flights/fares online have also made an online ticket purchase. A similar proportion of men (55.0 percent) and women (56.9 percent) who research hotel accommodations also booked a room online.

The findings are the result of a recent survey of nearly 3,500 BURST! Media network visitors to gain further insight into the how consumers are currently using the Internet as a travel resource. Respondents were 18+ years and had made at least one over night trip in the past six months.

"What makes these findings so interesting is that in BURST's previous survey focusing on online retail habits and attitudes, women were more likely to research, while men were more likely to buy," says Chuck Moran, BURST! Media's Market Research Manager. "But, when it comes to travel, women's behavior is different than their retail behavior."

According to comScore Networks, online travel spending generated $7.8 billion in November and December 2004 and for the year totaled $50.9 billion. Those numbers include airline tickets, car rentals, cruises, and hotel bookings and are a 26 percent increase from 2003.

The BURST! survey found that nearly four out of five (79.3 percent) have purchased airline tickets online, two-thirds (67.7 percent) have made hotel reservations, and one-third (37.5 percent) rented an automobile online. Additionally, respondents who have made transactions online also conduct travel research online - with two-thirds (66.5 percent) having researched travel destinations, and one-quarter (26.3 percent) researched travel/tour operators.

Other key findings of the BURST study:

Income impacts online travel purchase behavior. Among the segment reporting household income (HHI) of less than $35,000, only one-quarter (24.7 percent) of respondents say they made an online travel purchase. The percentage increases to 46.0 percent among those with household income of $35,000 - $74.999: and increases again to over-half (54.2 percent) of respondents with HHI $75,000 or greater.

Three out of five (60.6 percent) women vs. 54.1 percent of men say they have used the Internet to specifically research airline flights/fares, or hotel accommodation/ rates or car rental availability/rates. Women are also more likely than men to say they have made an online purchase of a travel product - 46.9 percent versus 39.4 percent, respectively.

The most popular online travel task among survey respondents who use the Internet solely as a research tool is researching travel destinations - with 63.2 percent of this group having done so. Online travel researchers, however, are also conducting travel-pricing research online. In fact 43.0 percent say they have conducted online research of airline flights and fares, 39.8 percent for hotel accommodations and prices, and 11.0 percent for car rental rates and availability.

Three-out-of five (62.0 percent) respondents who researched airline flights and fares on the Internet also say they purchased an airline ticket online. Similarly, 61.3 percent of respondents who researched auto rentals online also made a rental car reservation online. Among respondents who researched hotel accommodations and rates online, 56.0 percent made a hotel reservation online.

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