So where do you plan to travel next? Ask a travel search engine to pull up a destination, plane tickets, excursions, transportation. Forget a retailer, search is more effective for research. This particular article is chock full of information about travel specific search engines and why people are using them more regularly and to what rate. Which could be declining in some cases. Search engines are playing a part in planning peoples travel it says, and the travel specific search engines are on the rise.
Do I agree with this article? Most of it, but not all. One reason I decided to post this article, was my recent experience in planning a trip to Scotland via the internet and some of the trouble I ran into. I found the backpacking company, hostels, airline information, tickets to comedy shows, researched the areas I was traveling, and so on. But I didn't use a search engine to find a travel planner. I already had one, and I think this is where this article is missing out, in that these real people are way more effective in helping with your plans. While services like Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz are rising in popularity, mainly because you get to skip the step of using a travel planner, and a website to book the flight. This is great. But have you ever tried to book a very extensive trip on Expedia to different countries? It can be a nightmare, and a long process, I would rather forgo. So for those trips I use a travel planner, a real person. For everything else I use a search engine. :-)
Check out Yahoo's new travel search engine, and the article on Search Leads Travelers to Destinations.
