Sojern: Travelers Have Sights Set on Greece Despite Covid-19

Photo: GTP

Potential travelers still have their sights set on Greece in the coronavirus era as inbound flight searches to key European markets continue to remain stable, according to digital travel solutions provider Sojern.

Citing data collected on 27 October 2020, Sojern said Greece together with Spain continue to have the strongest levels of travel intent when comparing inbound travel searches to both destinations in the same period in 2019.

Source: Sojern

Sojern, which based its insights on over 350 million traveler profiles and billions of travel intent signals, said inbound flight searches to key European markets did show a slight drop over the last week.

Referring to the EU’s traffic light system designating areas in green, orange or red based on current Covid-19 infection rates, Sojern analysts admit that it may have a positive impact on traveler confidence but they will likely continue to opt for shorter booking windows due to the weekly nature of the updates.

Overall for Europe, inbound travel intent has waned Sojern said, with traveler behaviour over the last 60 days now shifting towards short lead times.

Source: Sojern

Sojern data also indicates a rise in last-minute searches in October compared to January. Though volumes were highest for January departures, travelers appear to be planning ahead and searching for flights throughout the year, with a high level of global travel intent for summer trips to Greece in July.

At the same time, when comparing October searches, search windows appear to have contracted as searches for future departure dates dropped off quicker.

Moreover, search volumes for February 2021 onwards are very low and flat, the Sojern report said.

“This suggests that hotels, destinations, attractions, and other travel brands should be focusing on targeting with messaging that appeals to the ‘last-minute’ travel planners,” said Sojern.

A closer look at global flight searches over the last 60 days reveals that one quarter concerned trips within the next seven days with 37 percent of travelers seeking to travel within 500 miles.

In contrast, those planning future trips (91+ days away) account for only 11 percent of the total volume.