We have yet to see the changes that the pandemic caused in our lives and in the industry. While many changes are evident, some are just beginning to emerge. It is clear that the industry has been transformed. That includes travel websites, whose traffic volume has changed in the wake of Covid-19. As a consequence, the top 10 most visited travel websites in the world have changed.
In recent years, the variables of visits and success have changed. It is logical since our industry is one of those that has been most affected by COVID restrictions and the halt in travel. Now, ThriveMyWay has published a study that compares the traffic of 2020 with what we have two years later.
Their methodology consists of observing the organic traffic generated from the first month of 2020, just before the restrictions began, until January 2022. In other words, they calculate the visits that do not depend on ads. With this, they want to measure the marketing success of a website without taking into consideration their investment in publicity.
With this analysis, we can see the real impact that the global emergency situation has had on even the biggest players in the industry.
Top 10 Tourism Websites
In the case of the travel sector, it is not surprising to see that, unlike what has happened in other areas, visits have fallen noticeably. No matter how many people were at home, they chose to visit other websites. In the end, it is logical that, if people could not travel, they would not check on travel websites.
However, it is striking to note the differences. For example, despite having lost 10.75% of organic visits, Booking remains the leading force. The case of TripAdvisor is particularly curious, which also maintains its second position despite having lost 33.2% of its traffic.
In other words, their power is so great that not even the pandemic has endangered its throne. Among those who have also experienced losses, Uber is one of those who have suffered the greatest (29.52%), although not as much as Ryanair, which falls to the bottom of the table with 47.74% fewer visits. Surprisingly, American Airlines has grown by 11.19%, so not all flight portals have been affected so negatively.
Concrete Reservations Grow
Another very interesting detail is that Airbnb has managed to record a boost by 12.85%, so it seems that apartment rentals have been able to recover faster from the restrictions. In that line, Vrbo, a website dedicated to family vacation rentals has experienced a huge 44.70% growth. Thanks to this, Expedia takes the 5th and 6th position of the top.
Meanwhile, Agoda has also grown in January 2022 compared to the same month in 2020. With 22.19% more visitors, it seems that, at the moment, the desire to travel has returned. In addition, it is very interesting that the Marriott International website holds the ninth position, with a growth of 16.63%. This shows that customer loyalty programs matter.
10 Most Visited Travel Websites
WEBSITE | Pre-COVID-19 January 2020 |
Post COVID-19 January 2022 |
Difference (%) | Trend |
Booking.com | 158,239,803 | 141,221,612 | -10.75 | - |
Tripadvisor.com | 252,696,961 | 168,754,257 | -33.22 | - |
Airbnb.com | 17,395,306 | 19,629,820 | +12.85 | + |
Uber.com | 21,915,856 | 15,445,306 | -29.52 | - |
Expedia.com | 36,036,056 | 35,312,376 | -2.01 | - |
Vrbo.com | 6,793,680 | 9,830,367 | +44.70 | + |
aa.com | 16,703,217 | 18,572,833 | +11.19 | + |
Agoda.com | 15,600,464 | 19,062,156 | +22.19 | + |
Marriott.com | 31,615,136 | 38,872,602 | +16.63 | + |
Ryanair.com | 26,961,852 | 14,091,270 | -47.74 | - |