Travel agents can look forward to a flurry of post-World Cup bookings from football fans looking to get away from it all this week – meaning England’s loss could soon be the travel industry’s gain.
Steven Gerrard and co’s dismal exit from the tournament yesterday will herald a sudden increase in travel bookings of at least 15%, according to Google.
Speaking at the UK Cruise Convention on Friday, Pozniak said the experience of the last World Cup showed there would be a massive silver lining for travel agents when England leave South Africa.
“Travel searches on Google leapt by 15% after England went out of the World Cup in 2006,” he said.
“Travel plans were delayed and only kicked off after England went out, and I expect the same thing to happen this time.”
Pozniak also told the Southampton event that cruise searches had leapt ahead 26% in the first five months of 2010, following a 20% rise in 2009, underlining the sector’s growth status.
Pozniak urged travel agents to make full use of Google’s free resources, such as Google Insight for Search – which helps websites understand what key words consumers are searching for – and Google Maps to place maps on websites, particularly useful for illustrating cruise itineraries.
The Co-operative Travel last week estimated that England's exit would be worth more than £1 million in extra bookings per day across the whole industry.
Click here to view original article by Daniel Pearce ,Monday 28th June, 2010
