How do travel and hospitality brands do market research?
TL;DR
- Cut every travel study by trip purpose (business, leisure, visiting family), booking window and season.
- Demand swings hard by month. U.S. airlines carried 91.8 million passengers in July 2024 and 70.1 million in January 2024.
- Test fees and bundles as choices, not single prices, because travelers trade them against each other.
- Neon Blue returns booking intent, bundle choice and perk preference by traveler segment, labeled as simulated. Run your first study free
Neon Blue builds simulations of human behavior. Travel and hospitality brands research travelers by trip purpose, booking window and season, because a business traveler booking two days out and a family booking a summer trip months ahead want different things from the same airline or hotel. The decisions are fares and fees, packages and bundles, loyalty perks, and seasonal campaigns. Most need an answer before the booking window opens, which is often months before the trip. Neon Blue runs these reads on a simulated audience of your travelers so offers can be shaped before the season sells.
Why does travel research need to account for season?
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports that U.S. airlines carried 91.8 million systemwide scheduled passengers in July 2024, against 70.1 million in January 2024. That is about 30% more travelers in the peak summer month than in the quietest winter one. Volume isn't the only thing that moves: the reasons people travel, and how far ahead they book, shift with the calendar too.
For research, that means an average audience gives an average answer that fits no season well. A summer package should be tested with summer leisure travelers, and a midweek business offer with people who travel for work.
Which travel and hospitality decisions can you research?
| Decision | What to read | Traveler cut that matters most |
|---|---|---|
| Fare or rate change | Book, switch dates, switch brand | Price-sensitive leisure travelers |
| Bag, seat or resort fee | Accept, avoid, choose a rival | Families and budget travelers |
| Package or bundle | Which bundle, what it replaces | Leisure travelers by booking window |
| Loyalty perk change | Effect on brand choice and spend | Elite members vs occasional members |
| Seasonal campaign | Takeaway, appeal, booking intent | Travelers who book that season |
Fare and fee tests use the methods in how to measure willingness to pay. Campaign creative gets pretested the same way.
What questions should a traveler study ask?
- In the past 12 months, how many trips did you take for business, leisure and visiting family?
- How far ahead do you usually book a leisure trip? [Less than 2 weeks to more than 3 months]
- Which of these would you choose for your next trip? [Bundles that vary price, bags, seat and flexibility, plus "book elsewhere"]
- If a $[fee] were added for [item], what would you do? [Pay it, avoid the item, choose another brand]
- Which of these perks would make you choose [brand] over others? [Perk list]
- After seeing this offer, how likely are you to book it? [1 to 5]
Question 3 is the core of fee and bundle research. Travelers don't judge a fee on its own; they compare total packages, and the "book elsewhere" option shows how many would leave.
What does a travel study look like on a simulated audience?
Hypothetical: a resort brand is planning its summer family campaign and is deciding between an all-inclusive bundle and a kids-stay-free offer.
- Audience: US adults with children under 18 who took a leisure trip with a hotel stay in the past 12 months, split by those who book more than 3 months ahead and those who book later, and by drive-to versus fly-to trips.
- Design: one offer per respondent, booking intent, what they would book instead, then a choice between the two offers.
- Readout: booking intent by segment, the alternative they would choose, and reasons in travelers' words.
Example output layout (illustrative, not a real result)
| Segment | Would book all-inclusive | Would book kids-stay-free | Would book elsewhere | Main reason (coded) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early bookers | __% | __% | __% | Coded theme |
| Late bookers | __% | __% | __% | Coded theme |
| Fly-to families | __% | __% | __% | Coded theme |
If early bookers prefer all-inclusive and late bookers respond to kids-stay-free, the campaign can run the two offers in sequence across the booking window. The message for each can be tested the same way.
What should travel marketers keep in mind?
- Time it to the booking window. Research results arrive in time only if the study runs before the window opens.
- Fees feel personal. Read fairness as well as intent on any new fee.
- Loyalty members are a separate audience. Elite members react to perk changes very differently from occasional members, so read those groups separately.
- Check big changes with real travelers. Run a few live interviews or a limited-market test, kept apart from simulated reads.
Booking pages and app flows can be tested with landing page testing. Channel choices for the campaign are covered in choosing marketing channels.
Questions about travel and hospitality research
How do hotels do market research?
They read guests and prospects by trip purpose, booking window and season, testing rates, packages, perks and campaigns with the travelers who book each type of stay.
How do airlines research new fees or fare types?
They show travelers fare bundles that vary price, bags, seats and flexibility and read which bundle people choose, and how many would book another airline instead.
When should travel brands run seasonal research?
Before the booking window for that season opens, which for summer leisure travel can be several months before the trips.
How does Neon Blue help travel and hospitality marketers?
Neon Blue builds a simulated audience of your travelers and reads booking intent, bundle choice and perk preference by segment, labeled as simulated. Start a free first study.