Top 10 Skift Research Reports in 2022

Skift Research produces a wide range of reports and data tools. The big trends in the industry guide us in choosing the topics we cover, and our readers, through their reading and feedback, tell us which reports and topics hit the mark in 2022. 

This is a rundown of the most popular reports produced by Skift Research over the past year.

Hot Topics

Many of our reports this past year were framed around the return of demand for travel. Skift Research has uncovered, at length, how the returning demand might differ from the pre-pandemic normal. 

1

Sustainability and Remote Work Shaping the Future of Travel: A Consumer Perspective 

We conducted our 2022 Traveler Survey to understand the crucial questions on how the pandemic has changed consumer travel habits and patterns, what might be short-lived and what might be long-lasting shifts. We surveyed travelers from five major tourism markets — the U.S., UK, Australia, China and India — to get a global perspective as well as detailed country-specific trends. In this report, two areas that emerged from the pandemic and are shaping travel in fundamental ways were covered: sustainability and remote work.

2

Subscriptions and Memberships in Travel 2022

Remote work and its impact on travel is a big part of what Skift has coined The Great Merging. The merging of how people live and work means that they have the potential to travel more frequently and for longer trips than ever before, which makes now the ideal time for subscriptions to make a breakthrough in travel. Subscriptions create recurring revenue that can compound on itself. This lets companies grow at exponential, rather than linear rates. The report provides three case studies: eDreams ODIGEO in distribution, Selina in hotels, and Inspirato in alternative accommodations to explain how subscriptions can completely alter the concept of marketing in travel. 

3

A Deep Dive Into Google’s Impact on Travel 2022  

Speaking of marketing: as travel has returned with a vengeance, we would be remiss not to check up on the impact Google is having on the online distribution space. This report asks and answers some key questions on the impact of Google. It concludes that Google’s influence on the travel industry has only expanded during the pandemic and the search platform is now firmly entrenched at the top of the travel marketing funnel. The last decade saw fierce battles for market share and user growth. But now we believe the metasearch wars are ending; Google has won.

4

Expedia and Booking in the Post-Pandemic Travel Landscape

The growing power of Google is not good news for two of its biggest customers: Expedia Group and Booking Holdings. But as this report points out, both companies have started down differing paths to try and remain relevant. Where their traditional value as collators of inventory is depleting, both companies are attempting to offer consumers with other value add products. Booking is focusing on its connected trip offering, while Expedia is betting big on its new loyalty program One Key. 

5

Travel Loyalty Programs Deep Dive 2022

Expedia isn’t reinventing loyalty in a vaccuum. Suppliers like airlines and hotels are betting big on reinventing their loyalty programs as well. Many point programs had run stale years before the pandemic, becoming increasingly commoditized and a complicated tale of conversion rates, qualifying dollars, and blackout dates. Now, with changing consumer expectations and behavior, loyalty programs are becoming more flexible in the face of blended travel, the Great Merging, and more demands around sustainability. 

Popular Data

We maintain a number of recurring data tools, and provide other data deep dives around important topics. These were some of the most popular reports.

6

Venture Investment Trends in Travel 2022 

One of our recurring reports which is always popular is our deep dive into venture investment trends. This year we noted that there has been a rotation in where investors are deploying capital vs. 2019. Geographically, Asia-Pacific has returned to be a major focus for new ventures. And investment themes have shifted dramatically towards building a new generation of travel tech platforms while redesigning transpiration from the ground up. We are optimistic that the pandemic will serve as a catalyst for a renewed commitment to innovation and transformation of the travel industry.

7

Global Accommodation Sector Market Estimates 2022

In 2022, Skift Research put a lot of effort into sizing the global accommodation sector. After already having covered the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific, this report pulled it all together and provided a global overview of the performance of hotels and short-term rentals around the world.

8

Hotel Tech Benchmark: Guest-Facing Technology 2022

Over the past year we also put a ton of effort into expanding our coverage of the hotel tech landscape. We published a number of reports which covered different hotel tech categories, but this recent one on guest-facing technology was by far the most popular. This is not a surprise, as these technologies are hot since the pandemic boosted the deamnd for more contactless features in hotels. 

9

U.S. Travel Tracker

Skift Research has systematically surveyed U.S. consumers about their travel behavior and plans since the beginning of 2020, and also in 2022 we reached out to a consumer panel six times to gauge how travel was returning. We found that price hikes were a major concern to travelers, but they so far have had little impact on actual travel behavior. We also tracked how the remote working trend continued to hold strong and had a growing impact on how people travel. 

10

Skift Travel Health Index 

Finally, one of our most popular data tools is the Skift Travel Health Index. Again, started at the beginning of 2020, this tool has provided readers with a monthly lowdown of travel’s performance in 22 of the largest tourism economies. We collate and analyze data from 20 data partners to provide an accurate index on current performance against pre-pandemic levels. In 2022 we saw the majority of countries return to, or even rise above, pre-pandemic performance. We will continue to track how the industry performs in 2023. 

If you’re not a subscriber yet, sign up to Skift Research to get access to all of the above reports, as well as all the exciting research the team will produce in 2023.