Trivago identifies drift to warm places

LONDON  Hotel searches to warm destinations increased by up to 60%, ‘Blue Monday’ 19 January, according to data from hotel search website trivago.co.uk.
‘Blue Monday’ falls on the Monday of the last full week in January and is deemed the most depressing day of the year, due to a combination of weather conditions, debt level, low motivational levels and time elapsed since the Christmas and New Year period. This supposedly impacts on travellers and their holiday booking intentions.
Trivago has come up with its 10 popular destinations with the highest Increase in Travel Interest on Blue Monday and Bangkok, Thailand tops the list mainly because it is very warm.
When the most popular destinations among UK travellers this January were analysed, a significant increase in travel interest was found to warmer destinations. Searches made Monday 19 January were compared to searches made Monday 12 January, for a hotel stay during the following three months.
Inside no.9 The largest increase in travel interest was to Bangkok (average of 27°C during January), where searches increased by 60% compared to the previous Monday. Next was Nice (44% increase, average of 9°C during January), Las Vegas (39% increase, average of 9°C during January) and Miami Beach (33% increase, average of 20°C during January).
Travel interest to destinations with cooler climes typically stayed around the same or even decreased over the same period. For example, searches to Budapest decreased by 21% (average of -1°C during January), Venice decreased by 19% (average of 3°C during January), Berlin decreased by 12% (average of -1°C during January) and Amsterdam decreased by 10% (average of -1°C during January).
Trivago UK public relations Denise Bartlett,: “Although ‘Blue Monday’ has been criticised for being a marketing ploy, these figures suggest there is some truth behind the theory. Our data shows a clear and simultaneous decrease in searches to colder destinations and increase in searches to warmer destinations.
“Although only one week has elapsed since the original searches were made, the change in user behaviour suggest that UK holidaymakers have tired of the cold weather and are planning their next sunny getaway. The threat of cold temperatures in the UK this week may also have played a part, with people keen to escape to warmer climates in the future.”
Trivago an online hotel search site, comparing rates from over 700,000 hotels on over 200 booking sites worldwide, integrates over 140 million hotel ratings and 14 million photos.
Ten Popular Destinations with the Highest Increase in Travel Interest:Inside-no.9.1

sourced:ttrweekly.com