Analyzing traveler’s top “bucket list” locations across social channels
With oil prices falling in more recent years, there has been an influx of cheaper airline options within the United States. These budget-friendly flights provide travelers with financial flexibility, and a variety of new travel options for those who may not have been able to afford to fly before. With a predicted increase of travel, analysts working in the travel industry can understand more about these travel trends, capitalizing on behaviors such as where consumers are headed for their dream vacations and why. To better understand where consumers are taking their excursions, we explored the ‘bucket list’ conversation over social.
Through Crimson’s top words, we were able to whittle down the ‘bucket list’ conversation into a top ten location list. After cross checking the data with individual location filters, the top locations, derived from English speaking consumers were as follows:
Top 10 Bucket List Locations Over Social
Two things caught our eye when we were examining this data. First of all, we can see that consumers are feeling more adventurous as traveling to eastern Asia conversations rose in recent years, with Japan moving up the list in 2015. There is also a surge of travelers expressing a desire to explore other areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans including Dubai, and Bora Bora.
It’s exciting to see that Australia has been the most desirable travel location consistently in both 2011 and 2015. Considering that Australia, Japan, Paris, Italy and London are discussed year after year, sales teams and marketers can assure that these locations are sweet spots for future advertisements.
While each of the bucket list destinations is both unique and appealing in their own way, we can’t help but wonder: Why are consumers consistently drawn to Australia?
Diving into Aussie conversation, geographically speaking, 65.81% of posts expressing a desire to travel down under are coming from the United States. Honing in on what consumers are excited about doing while in Australia, we can see that major cities being mentioned are Melbourne and Sydney. We were also able to get a better look at what major excursions and attractions are drawing in consumers, with scuba diving, the Great Barrier Reef, wallabies, and the Sydney Opera House bringing in high volumes of conversations across social. All of these insights can be pulled into future campaigns, where travel brands in Australia, and in the United States can strengthen their relationship with one another by capitalizing on activities that tourists are most excited about.
That’s one for the bucket list. Travel to Australia and visit the Great Barrier Reef. #lifegoals
— David Edwards (@davey_edwards) January 6, 2016
Trending Now: Music Festivals
While a large portion of the bucket list conversation is destination-centric, after examining the discussion from a different angle, we can see an increase of consumers expressing interest in music festivals in their bucket list conversations across social. More specifically, with its recent mainstream appeal, Coachella conversations have increased a whopping 5,382% since 2010. By looking at the demographic profile, we were able to uncover that consumers who are excited about Coachella are also discussing a variety of other musical events, such as Tomorrowland, and Lollapalooza.
But are all consumers interested in Coachella? With such a wide variety of consumers online, is it possible to isolate a specific group interests? For example, using social insights, can travel brands learn more about how a group of students may be discussing bucket lists, in comparison to a group of parents? How are their conversations similar, and how are they different? The short answer is yes. Utilizing social data analysis, travel marketers can craft specific keywords to focus in on unique personas, in an effort to identify how one group of people may be discussing bucket lists compared to another. By looking at consumers who have high interest in Snapchat, College, University Sports, and Starbucks, users can separate how that demographic varies from those who hold interest in Parenting, Kids and Babies, Child Safety Locks, and Home Repairs.
When comparing the two persona groups, while the younger demographic is expressing more enthusiasm for Coachella, Australia, Greece, and partying, those who fall under the parent persona have stronger interests in Italy, London, and Hawaii. Additionally, to no surprise, the latter group has a higher proportion of conversations referencing ‘family’. In knowing that a younger demographic is passionate about music festivals, brands in the industry can monitor trends, and collaborate on future festival excursions.
@melissashap we should study abroad a semester together ??? i definitely have to go to Europe and Australia! #bucketlist
— Alex Stanley (@Alex_Stanley12) March 10, 2013
With a greater than 11.6% increase of trips to Australia from 2015 to 2016, there’s no doubt that the tourism industry ‘down under’ can profit by tapping into the social insights market. With their once-in-a-lifetime travel mindset, millennials undoubtedly have a strong desire for adventure and with over 250 billion spent during 2015, are in no way stingy when it comes to travel budgets. Travel professionals, including market researchers, analysts, and sales teams can make use of social analysis by acknowledging what is most important for millennials when they travel, and then giving these young adventurers the incentive to explore the globe. Whether it be venturing to Indio for Coachella, or Instagramming wallabies while exploring Sydney, travel advertising and marketing professionals can more strategically address consumers, to better understand key demographic profiles in hopes of changing bucket list dreamers into actual travelers.
What’s on your bucket list? For more information regarding the travel industry, check out our deep-dive study on consumer relations on ten major airlines in the industry.