Despite the explosion in travel witnessed in 2022, leading to chaos at airports, a new report by TravelBoom, a digital marketing agency, says that leisure travellers are still looking at price as a key factor behind their travel decision.

Over one-third of leisure travellers say they may have to cancel existing vacation plans because of budget concerns, with a massive 56 pc saying that high gas prices will moderately or significantly impact their travel decisions. These are some of the key findings in a study released by TravelBoom, a leading data-driven digital marketing agency.

Other key findings in TravelBoom’s 2022 Leisure Travel Trends Study report show that the main pain points that prevented respondents from booking trips in the first place were budget concerns (53 pc), transportation costs (48 pc) and lodging costs (45 pc).

Another major finding was that most travellers are doing more deep dives online and investigating their options more thoroughly. The average traveller visits 5.5 websites over the course of their vacation planning and booking process, which will typically include a search engine, meta engine, OTA, review site and the hotel website itself.

In 2022, 46.3 percent of respondents pointed to price as their primary consideration when planning a vacation, as compared with 37.9 percent in 2019. Along with the price of their stays, transportation costs, amenities and loyalty programs are some of the factors that can influence travellers’ selections.

Despite the waning of the pandemic around the world, the study found that 55 pc of people still take Covid-19 risks into account before booking their trips. Among US leisure travellers, only 13.5 pc said the pandemic still has a major influence on travel, but, 45 pc of Canadian travellers answered the same, demonstrating Covid-19’s continued impact on international travel.

Another key outcome of the study was that 82 pc of travellers won’t book their stay at a property without having first consulted consumer reviews. “Reviews and social proof are the make-or-break points for a vacation booking,” the report reads. In fact, reviews are a persistent part of the shopping process, with nearly 40 pc of travel consumers referring to reviews in every step of vacation planning.

One more significant outcome is that short-term rental firms like VRBO and Airbnb are growing significantly in usage, at the expense of the OTAs such as Expedia.

The survey polled more than 2,000 travellers this year amid exhaustive research on the subject, says TravelBoom. By comparing their responses with those of the combined 90,000 participants in earlier studies, the company has come up with a comprehensive picture of how the sector is shifting, it adds.

It says its last major leisure travel study was conducted in 2019, so this year’s report reveals much about how leisure travellers’ planning and booking behaviour has altered from pre-pandemic times.

It says that currently some of the most impactful factors that are creating some startling changes in consumer mindsets, preferences and behaviour are the rising cost of travel, the overall economy, ongoing Covid-19 concerns and technological tools.

‘‘Leisure travel continues to be one of the most impacted industries in the post-pandemic period and consumers are very conscious of inflation, lingering Covid-19 concerns, along with high expectations for destinations and accommodations,’’ says Pete DiMaio, COO of TravelBoom. ‘‘Our annual Leisure Travel Trends study allows us to better understand the consumer mindset and purchase journey so that we can adapt our marketing strategies to a greater impact,’’ he adds.

TravelBoom says it specialises in developing and executing customised data-driven marketing solutions that drive direct bookings and growth for its clients.