| Searches for flights down 42% on last year |
UK Internet searches for flights have fallen by 42% over the last 12 months. January is a key month for the travel industry, as UK consumers' thoughts turn from Christmas shopping to booking summer holidays, but the economic downturn means that consumers are being more cautious when booking flights abroad this year. As a result of the weak pound, people are switching from holidays in the Eurozone or USA and considering cheaper destinations such as Turkey and North Africa, or considering taking their holidays at home.
USA and Eurozone countries experience the biggest fall in holiday searches
UK Internet searches for flights increased by 58% between the weeks ending 27/12/08 and 03/01/09, but they were down by 42.4% when compared with the equivalent post-Christmas week last year (i.e. the week ending 05/01/08). Flights to the USA experienced the biggest annual fall in searches of 52.2%. Searches for flights to countries that use the Euro fell by 44.8%, while searches for flights to the UK and the Rest of the World also fell, but at a smaller rate.
It appears that the weak pound is putting people off flying to the Eurozone and the USA, and UK consumers are looking at destinations with more favourable exchange rates instead. There have been big falls in searches for flights to all of the most popular European holiday destinations over the last 12 months: France is down 45.4%, Spain 42.8%, Portugal 41.7% and Italy 41.2%.
Change in UK Internet searches for flights to popular destinations between 05/01/08 and 03/01/09:
- Turkey: -24.6%
- Dubai: -27.1%
- Thailand: -32.2%
- Australia: -32.8%
- South Africa: -32.9%
- Caribbean: -34.6%
- Italy: -41.2%
- Portugal: -41.7%
- Spain: -42.8%
- France: -45.4%
Read the full release here.
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| Weight Watchers UK - weightwatchers.co.uk |
Position for the week ending 27/12/2008: #1109
Position for the week ending 10/01/2009: #308
Positions Jumped: 801
UK Internet visits to Weight Watchers UK increased 2-fold between the weeks of 27/12/2008 and 10/01/2009, ranking at #308 within all categories, up from #1109 two weeks earlier. With the end of the holiday season and weight loss topping many New Year's resolution lists, it's no surprise that traffic to Weight Watchers UK has doubled.
For the week ending 10/01/2009, Weight Watchers UK, Weight Loss Resources, Slimming World, Men's Health UK and Tesco Diets were the top 5 sites in the Health and Medical - Wellbeing category.
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| NEW Demographics and Lifestyle |
Do you know what effect the current economic climate is having on your competitors' customers and prospects - or your own? Is consumers' online behaviour changing? And if not, how can you ensure you won't lose valuable prospects and costly market share?
Don't waste time with metrics that aren't actionable. The new Hitwise Demographics and Lifestyle tool provides marketers with the most comprehensive data, actionable insights, data to eliminate waste and information to defend against diminishing ROI.
Find out more here.
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| Social networks = 10% of UK Internet traffic |
With all of the focus on the economic downturn and the troubles in the retail sector, it's easy to forget the continued growth of social networking in the UK. Christmas is traditionally the busiest time of year for social networks, and this festive season the sector achieved three significant new milestones.
On Christmas Day 2007, Facebook reached a peak in traffic that wasn't surpassed until July 2008. Traffic reached a new high on Christmas Day 2008, when Britain's most popular social networking site accounted for 1 in every 22 UK Internet visits. With a market share of 4.65%, Facebook's traffic was up 69% on Christmas Day 2007, and it was the second most visited website after Google UK (8.63%).
Video site YouTube received more UK Internet traffic than Microsoft Windows Live Mail (Hotmail) for the first time during Christmas week 2008. For the week ending 27/12/08, YouTube accounted for 2.13% of all UK Internet visits compared to 2.11% for Live Mail. During the same week, YouTube was the third most visited website in the UK behind Google UK and Facebook, while Live Mail ranked fourth.
The successes of Facebook and YouTube, along with similar sites, meant that social networks accounted for 1 in every 10 UK Internet visits during Christmas week. For the week ending 27/12/08, the Computers and Internet - Social Networking and Forums category accounted for 10.09% of all UK Internet visits, the first ever time it has passed the 10% threshold. Over the last 12 months traffic to the category has increased by 20%, and it now ranks behind only Entertainment, Search Engines and Shopping and Classifieds in terms of UK Internet visits.
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| TVs, Computers and iPods most popular sales items |
Searches for televisions increased by 148% during the two weeks ending 27/12/2008, making the TV the second most searched-for consumer electronics product after mobile phones.
The second fastest growing product type for the week ending 27/12/2008 was MP3 players, which experienced a 45% increase in searches. The market remains dominated by Apple, which picked up 85% of all searches for a particular product or brand. For the first time during this week the iPod Touch became the most searched for Apple iPod, narrowly edging out the generic iPod and receiving well over twice as many searches than the iPod Nano.
The final big growth area was computers, which experienced a 33% increase in searches. The most searched for computer during the same period was the Samsung NC10 netbook, which inched ahead of the Sony Vaio. Another netbook, the Acer Aspire One, currently sits third in the rankings.
To listen to our post-Christmas Retail Round-up webinar, click here.
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| Hitwise at TFM&A, 24 - 25 February 2009 |
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Hitwise will be exhibiting and speaking at TFM&A, along with some of our other Experian sister companies. Visit our stand at H18 and find out more about Hitwise and the wider Experian Marketing Services group.
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