Did the World Cup affect Travel queries?

Posted by Rashad Sharif, Industry Analyst.

Following England's departure from the World Cup last Sunday, I've attempted to quantify the impact this year's tournament has had on UK Travel queries.

Main findings:
• We would have expected 10% more queries and 8% more clicks in the past 3 weeks had the world cup not taken place.
• Package Holiday & Car Hire queries/clicks were most impacted, though all Travel sectors were affected.
• If 2010 follows 2006 seasonality, we expect a 7% increase in travel queries this week.
Estimates take into consideration: Current YoY average growth rates, 2006 seasonality, last year’s trends and month on month growth rates.

The graphs above illustrate the differences in growth rates as a result of the World Cup for each Travel sector.