How Travel eBusiness Can Better Serve The Small Leisure Group Segment

Forty-six percent of US online leisure travelers are group travelers — those who have taken at least one group trip with others outside their immediate household. While the travel industry has focused the majority of its group booking strategies and technologies on groups of 10 or more travelers, a very important group has been underserved and ignored: the small group market. Thirty percent of group trips are composed of small groups of five to nine travelers. Small group travelers are more likely to research and book travel online when compared with larger groups of 10 or more travelers, making them a very attractive online audience. To better meet the needs of the small group segment, travel eBusiness professionals must rethink their current group travel approach, incorporate group planning functionality into their sites' purchasing path, and increase collaboration with revenue management and marketing departments.