Searches increase when travelers are looking for discounts

First there’s Black Friday – then Cyber ​​Monday.

Now thirsty consumers have a reason to shop online one more day. “Travel Tuesday” – the first Tuesday after the American Thanksgiving holiday – targets those looking for discounts on travel, rather than flat-screen TVs.

Search interest for “Travel Tuesday” increased by more than 500% from 2021 to 2023, according to a report published by McKinsey & Company there.

Searches are highest among American and Canadian consumers, but interest is also growing in Australia, the UK, the Netherlands and Spain, according to McKinsey.

Google Trends supports this, showing that searches for “Travel Tuesday” started in November 2017, decreased during the pandemic, and increased significantly in 2022 and 2023, mostly in North America, Western Europe and Australia.

“European travel companies can anticipate the possibility that Travel Tuesday will become a growing phenomenon in the region,” notes the McKinsey report.

Except for Singapore, Travel Tuesday has not caught on in Asia, the report noted, possibly due to the regional popularity of China’s “Singles Day” – the multi-week period of peak sales each year on November 11.

But this does not stop Asian companies from selling to reach global clients.

Kristen Jennings Graff, director of sales and marketing at Bawah Reserve, an eco-resort in Indonesia’s Riau Islands, said her company is launching its first “Travel Tuesday” promotion in 2023.

“We have offers where you have a choice – upgrade, discount, or one free flight,” he said. “It generates good sales for us.”

McKinsey’s report, titled “Travel Tuesday is Real – and Growing,” shows that hotel, airline and cruise ship bookings among American travelers increased on “Travel Tuesday” last year, which occurred on November 28, 2023.

Airline bookings increased by more than 60% that day, and cruises by more than 50%, from the two weeks before and after, according to the report.

Hotel bookings also jumped 28%, although they were slightly beaten by bookings made the day before, which was Cyber ​​Monday, according to the report. Searches for “Cyber ​​Monday” are bigger than “Travel Tuesday,” but interest in the former has declined, it shows.

“Travel orders made on Travel Tuesday have surpassed those made on Cyber ​​Monday,” said Ryan Mann, a partner in McKinsey’s Travel, Logistics and Infrastructure practice and one of the authors of the report.

But Mann cautioned that Travel Tuesday may not do for the travel industry what Black Friday did for retail.

On both dates, consumers are looking for the best deal, he said. “But unlike some of the impulse purchases consumers make on Black Friday, booking travel can require more planning.”

For those who are ready to book, they can find discounts on airfares, cruises and tour packages, with many hotels offering 20-30% of the best rates available. Travelers can check out “Travel Tuesday” deals from 2023 to get an idea of ​​what to expect this year.

Faced with rising travel costs and inflationary pressures, travelers say finding good deals is a top priority.

A day set aside for travel discounts could be a win for travelers and an opportunity for companies to boost revenue during a time when there is usually a lull in bookings, according to McKinsey. Late November/early December is often considered too late for winter orders and too early for summer, the report states.

It could also be a way to get a cut of year-end holiday shopping, which has long been dominated by physical gifts.

More than half of Americans (58%) say they’d rather spend money on travel than shopping, according to the 2024 Winter Travel Survey from personal finance company WalletHub.

The Amex Trendex 2024 global survey of more than 13,000 adults who make at least $50,000 a year showed about one in three respondents said they plan to give “experiences” to others or their children. The rate of increase is even higher for friends, with nearly 70% saying they prefer to give experiences or trips over material gifts, according to the survey.

The best experiences are for entertainment (59%) and travel (54%), according to an Amex survey published in September.