As an analyst for the adCenter travel sector in the UK, my favourite bit of the job is finding bargain holidays whilst I’m researching websites, and my least favourite bit is being bombarded by photos of sun-soaked beaches from my laptop in grey, rainy London.

Although both the weather and the economy might be a bit gloomy at the moment, the UK travel sector at Microsoft Advertising isn’t a complete washout. In fact, the outlook for 2009 is bright. Despite Hitwise reporting that ‘traffic to travel websites fell by 16 per cent’ in the week ending January 3 compared with the same week last year, here in the UK, we’ve actually seen year-on-year increases in terms of traffic and clicks on travel-related ads. MPj02275540000[1]

Travel-related traffic in October, November and December increased by 175% in 2008 compared to 2007 and clicks increased by 88%. It seems that despite people losing jobs and gaining expenses, holidays are still being researched and booked via Live Search. These sorts of increases have been maintained throughout January – the most popular month for booking travel across all media.

Here are some tips to help you weather the storm:

· More people are booking all-inclusive holidays; this helps them to keep a close eye on what they’re spending while they’re away.

· As evinced by the disproportionate ratio of travel-related traffic increase (175%) to click increase (88%) detailed above, searchers are really shopping around; they’re studying lots of different ads before clicking. Capitalise on this by making your ads really stand out – use creative language, special offers and unique selling points. Adding competitive prices to your ads will also make a big difference.

· The top 3 positions remain the most desirable despite the change in the buying cycle. Use relevancy, bid prices, negative match lists and great ads to push your brand into these positions.

· Searchers are clicking on ads that contain trust-related language, such as “ATOL protected”, “specialists” and “guaranteed”.

· As a result of the weakening pound and rising costs of visiting the USA and the Eurozone, breaks are being booked to alternative hotspots, including Iceland, Oman and Lebanon. ‘Staycations’ (holidays in the UK) are becoming increasing popular. Ensure these keywords are in your account if applicable.

It’s not too late to capitalise on the January/February spike. We expect lots of travel activity throughout the next month (particularly after paydays) so there are plenty of opportunities to be had!

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