Passport Online Releases Report Card of 2023

Passport Online Releases Report Card of 2023 Agency and Consumer Online Activity; Europe Dominates Cruise and Land Searches by Advisors and Consumers, U.S. Destinations Second; Largest Ships Lead Cruise Searches

 

Portland, Oregon, February 12, 2024 – Passport Online Inc. [PPO] just released its analysis of 2023 online activity across all digital channels by the travel agencies and their consumer clients using the company’s websites, content distribution channels, e-mail marketing programs, and social media post management services.

 

“In 2023 approximately 160,000 travel advisors used content provided by Passport Online,” said Jeanne Colombo, President of Passport Online Inc.  “This was through almost 5,000 advisor consumer-facing websites, over 35,000 dynamic affiliate sites, and content distribution through data feeds, APIs, and e-mail channels.

 

“Our flexible system generates millions of unique customer visitors every month for travel professionals’ websites. Around 400,000 active travel itineraries are available each month in over 6,700 locations worldwide, and agencies have the ability to highlight preferred suppliers   and prioritize search results to best showcase their own areas of expertise,” said Colombo.

 

PPO’s data on search analysis is based on Detailed Offer Views (DOVs). Once a search is entered and results delivered, a DOV is when an advisor or consumer clicks through to the complete description of the product, itinerary, maps, photos, pricing and other details.

 

Destinations

 

For cruises, European destinations led the way with 41% of all DOVs, with Germany accounting for 29% of click-throughs, France 14%, Austria 10%, Spain 9.5%, Greece 9.18%, and Italy 9.17%.  US destinations were the second most popular at 21% of cruise DOVs, with Alaska accounting for 70% of click-throughs, Hawaii 15%. The Caribbean came in third place (15% of DOVs).

 

For land products, 47% of DOVs were for Europe, 28% for US destinations. Third place narrowly went to Africa, at 5.5%, closely followed by Australia and New Zealand (5%).  Top countries for land product searches were Ireland (15%), Italy (11%), England (8%), Scotland (7%), Portugal (6%), Croatia (5%), and France (4%). Top US states were Hawaii (14%), Las Vegas (10.9%), California (10.1%), followed in descending order by Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Alaska, Colorado, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC.

 

Types of popular cruises, sizes, styles

 

The largest ocean-going ships carrying 2,500 passengers or more garnered 43.34% of DOVs, while 20.35% were for river cruises, and 19.83% were for luxury and ultra-premium cruise lines.

 

“It is not surprising that the largest ships, including the mega-ships, remain popular among  younger adults and families,” noted Colombo. “They offer attractive price points along with a wide variety of schedules and itineraries, a number of entertainment options, and many new and interesting amenities. The popularity of river cruises keeps growing, as well. Their unique appeal is that they sail close to the center of most destinations, allowing their 30 to 200 guests to walk right off the ship into the port city or town.

 

“At the top tier in terms of pricing, the luxury and ultra-premium cruise lines are nearly tied with river cruising in terms of the number of searches and DOVs. Luxury cruise travel remains strong, as these lines cater to those consumers seeking the highest level of accommodations, sumptuous dining options, excellent service, extensive enrichment opportunities and activities,” said Colombo.

 

Seasonality of searches

 

The majority of website consumer searches were in the winter months of January (17%), February (13%), and March (12%), with November coming in at 10%.  Click-through rates (the number of clicks divided by the number of times a product appears) were more evenly distributed throughout the 12 month period, November with 14%, January 13%, but August, September, and December all at 10%.

 

Social Media

 

An analysis of social media posts created by PPO for client agencies showed that the two posts earning the highest number of views per agency and the most reactions per agency were ones promoting Prague and Bora Bora with appealing photos and descriptions. These were followed by posts with inspirational messages (“Get out there and explore”), another asking “Where would you go if your trip were completely paid for”, and then others with inspirational quotations from C.S. Lewis , Robert Brault, and others.

 

Also garnering a high number of clicks, comments, and shares were posts designed to invite interaction, asking which of several popular destinations had the user visited, or which destination photo matched the user’s mood.

 

“Social media’s highest value to travel advisors is to keep the consumer thinking about the advisor, keep them dreaming about their bucket list, about where they might go next,” said Colombo. “So we provide a variety of posts they can share on their social media channels to keep their customers engaged.”

 

About Passport Online

 

Since 1995 Passport has been the leading leisure technology provider for the travel agency community, offering supplier content, pricing, and powerful tools to market those products online to major consortia, host agencies, and thousands of agencies to facilitate their e-commerce marketing activities in turn.  The different products in the Passport Online system now generate more than 2 million views of supplier itineraries each month and thousands of sales leads.  In addition to cruise, tour and wholesale travel products, Passport is now offering rich content for destinations, hotels/resorts, and other travel suppliers who want to put their products in front of North American travel agencies and their clients.  Passport offers additional marketing programs for suppliers and destinations, including a proven e-mail program to more than 80,000 advisors and more than 500,000 consumers, all of whom are qualified clients of travel advisors, with reports on sends, opens and even bookings for the consumer e-mails.

 

For more information on Passport Online, please visit www.passportonlineinc.com or contact Jeanne Colombo, President at jeannec@passportonlineinc.com .