Searches soar as travelers look for discounts

First there was Black Friday — then Cyber Monday.

Now deal-thirsty consumers have a reason to shop online one day longer. “Travel Tuesday” — the first Tuesday after the American Thanksgiving holiday — targets those looking for discounts on trips, rather than flat-screen TVs.  

Search interest for “Travel Tuesday” rose more than 500% from 2021 to 2023, according to a report published by McKinsey & Company on Thursday.

Searches are highest among American and Canadian consumers, but interest is also rising in Australia, the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Spain, according to McKinsey.

Google Trends supports this, showing searches for “Travel Tuesday” beginning in November 2017, dropping off during the pandemic, and rising sharply in 2022 and 2023, mostly in North America, Western Europe and Australia.

“European travel companies can anticipate the possibility that Travel Tuesday will become a growing phenomenon in their region,” McKinsey’s report notes.  

Except for Singapore, Travel Tuesday hasn’t caught on in Asia yet, the report noted, perhaps because of the regional popularity of China’s “Singles’ Day” — a weeks-long sales period that peaks annually on Nov. 11.   

But that’s not stopping Asian companies from jumping in on the sale to reach global clientele.

Kristen Jennings Graff, director of sales and marketing at Bawah Reserve, an eco-resort in Indonesia’s Riau Islands, said her company launched its first “Travel Tuesday” promotion in 2023.

“We had an offer that was a choice — upgrade, discount, or one free flight,” she said. “It generated good sales for us.”

McKinsey’s report, titled “Travel Tuesday is Real — and Growing,” showed that hotel, airline and cruise bookings among American travelers spiked on “Travel Tuesday” last year, which occurred on Nov. 28, 2023.

Airline bookings jumped more than 60% that day, and cruises by more than 50%, from the two-week-period before and after it, according to the report.

Hotel bookings also jumped 28%, although they were slightly eclipsed by bookings made the day prior, which was Cyber Monday, according to the report. Searches for “Cyber Monday” are far greater than “Travel Tuesday,” but interest in the former is declining, it showed.

“Travel bookings made on Travel Tuesday have surpassed those made on Cyber Monday,” said Ryan Mann, a partner in McKinsey’s Travel, Logistics and Infrastructure practice and one of the authors of the report.

But Mann cautions that Travel Tuesday may not do for the travel industry what Black Friday has done for retail.

On both dates, consumers are looking for the best deals, he said. “But unlike some of the impulse purchases consumers make on Black Friday, travel bookings can require more planning.”

For those who are ready to book, they can find discounts on airfares, cruises and tour packages, with many hotels offering 20-30% off best available rates. Travelers can check out “Travel Tuesday” deals from 2023 to get an idea of what to expect this year.

In the face of rising travel costs and inflationary pressures, travelers say finding a good deal is a top priority.

A day earmarked for travel discounts can be a win for travelers and an opportunity for companies to bolster revenue during a period when there’s usually a lull in bookings, according to McKinsey. Late November/early December is often considered too late for winter bookings and too early for summer ones, the report states.

It may also be a way to get a slice of year-end holiday spending, which has long been dominated by physical gifts.

More than half of Americans (58%) say they prefer to spend their money on travel instead of shopping, according to the 2024 Winter Travel Survey from the personal finance company WalletHub.

A 2024 Amex Trendex global survey of more than 13,000 adults who make at least $50,000 a year showed around one in three respondents said they plan to give an “experience” to a significant other or to their children. The rate jumped even higher for friends, with nearly 70% saying they preferred to give an experience or trip over a material gift, according to the survey.

Top experiences were for entertainment (59%) and travel (54%), according to the Amex survey published in September.