Before booking an airline ticket, a number of factors influence the buyer's final decision, from cost to the convenience of a mobile application for finding flight information.
Google analysts, with the support of Kantar TNS, conducted a study and, based on the data obtained, The data determined what is important for Russians when buying airline tickets, how much time is required to make a decision about purchasing them, and which destinations are popular for vacations.
Portrait modern Russian traveler
Today, a significant portion of respondents (68%) buy airline tickets online. Those who prefer offline channels are almost twice as few. It is curious that online booking in Russia is almost as widespread as in the US, where the same figure is 77%.
The modern traveler purchases tickets using a computer or tablet. Most respondents (60%) said that they prefer these devices. Despite the popularity of online bookings, only 8% use smartphones for this purpose. Mobile apps are mainly popular among younger travelers, so in the future, the number of bookings made using smart gadgets may increase.
According to the statistics presented in the study, most often modern Russian tourists go on vacation together. However, there are also lovers of traveling alone: their share is 28%. Traveling in a company of more than four people is not popular in Russia: only 8% are ready to travel in a group.
A similar situation is observed in many European countries, the USA and Turkey. Thus, 62% German, 57% French, 47% American and 41% Turkish tourists usually travel together. The study also revealed that representatives of the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of South Africa in most cases prefer to vacation in other countries alone.
How are decisions made about purchasing airline tickets?
Most decisions are made quickly: more than half of respondents (51%) decide to travel within a few days, and 15% of respondents book tickets within a few hours of finding a suitable flight. Thus, in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, 37% travelers make a reservation in a very short period of time. The same figure in the USA and England is 27%, and in Germany 19%. According to experts, planning to buy a ticket several months before departure is a thing of the past - among Russian independent travelers, only 8% think about it in advance.
In Russia, as in the rest of the world, the cost of tickets remains the most important criterion when choosing the services of a particular airline. A significant portion of respondents (70%) primarily pay attention to this factor. However, when choosing services, positive impressions at the booking stage and during the flight play an important role. This, in turn, has the greatest impact on the degree of customer loyalty to the air carrier.
Of all respondents, 30% are members of Frequent Flyer Programs. Notably, the vast majority do not have gold or silver status. Instead, members accumulate miles that can later be redeemed for flights.
How and where do Russian travelers vacation?
European destinations are in demand among Russian tourists: 40% of survey participants fly there for vacation, while 31% book domestic flights. Asia is also popular - 16% of respondents prefer exotic countries.
As for the duration of the vacation, the majority of respondents (38%) choose a two-week vacation. A week-long vacation is also popular — with 36% Russian tourists. Interestingly, unlike Russian travelers, tourists in the USA and a number of European countries, except Germany and Holland, prefer trips lasting up to seven days.
How do Russian travelers choose airlines?
Russian travelers choose airlines based on a combination of factors that are important to them. Thus, for 60% respondents, the final decision depends on impressions from the last flight, and for 45%, convenience at every stage is important, from using a mobile application to the absence of stressful situations during the flight.
Before buying a plane ticket, travelers try to find out as much as possible about the airline and its offers. They most often (in 89% cases) give preference to popular search engines, as well as websites with ticket price comparisons (70%), video hosting sites (65%), airline websites (62%) and tour operator pages on the Internet (51%). Russian tourists also rely on information in social networks, on review sites, forums and other open sources.
According to the Russian Google Search statistics, when choosing an airline, users are most often interested in the rules for carrying items in hand luggage and the destinations served by a particular airline. Mileage accumulation systems are also very popular.
Despite the abundance of search engines and aggregators, offline channels also remain in demand. Thus, 41% respondents trust reviews from family members and friends, 24% listen to tour operator recommendations, and 14% study catalogs and information stands themselves. In addition, tourists continue to pay attention to advertising on television and radio, in magazines and on billboards.
Source: trn-news.ru
