Leading Brands in US Travel Booking Services & Agencies: Q1 2024 Analysis

Introduction

In the competitive landscape of travel booking services and agencies, brands like Expedia, Booking.com, and TripAdvisor have consistently maintained their dominance. In Q1 2024, these brands continued to attract a significant monthly deduplicated audience across their websites and apps. This article delves into each brand's performance, highlighting key trends and insights from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, leveraging Sensor Tower's comprehensive data offerings.

Expedia

Expedia's digital footprint is robust, with its website, expedia.com, and the Expedia: Hotels, Flights, Cars app.

• Audience Trends: From Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, expedia.com saw a notable increase in unique visits, peaking at over 28M in March. The monthly deduplicated audience consistently exceeded 30M, with a substantial portion visiting both web and app platforms.

• App Engagement: The app maintained a steady monthly active user base, with active users around 5.3M in March, indicating a steady interest in mobile bookings.

• Ad Spend & Channels: With fluctuating monthly ad spend, Expedia invested significantly in January, with over $23M spent, primarily on platforms like YouTube and OTT (Over-the-top media services), driving over 2.3B impressions.

Booking.com

Booking.com continues to thrive with its website, booking.com, and the Booking.com: Hotels & Travel app.

• Audience Trends: The website experienced a steady rise in unique visits, reaching nearly 19M in March. The monthly deduplicated audience hovered around 25M, with a balanced split between web and app users.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active users increased to approximately 7.9M by March, reflecting a growing preference for mobile interactions.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Booking.com’s monthly ad spend peaked in March at over $20M, with a focus on Instagram and Facebook, generating over 2.2B impressions.

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor's presence includes its website, tripadvisor.com, and the Tripadvisor: Plan & Book Trips app.

• Audience Trends: The website's unique visits remained stable, surpassing 20M in March. The monthly deduplicated audience consistently exceeded 20M, with web-only visitors forming the majority.

• App Engagement: The app showed modest growth, with monthly active users nearing 300K in March, suggesting a niche but engaged user base.

• Ad Spend & Channels: TripAdvisor's ad strategy was more conservative, with monthly spend peaking at about $240K in March, primarily on Facebook, achieving over 35M impressions.

Conclusion

The Q1 2024 data underscores the continued strength and adaptability of Expedia, Booking.com, and TripAdvisor in the travel booking sector. Sensor Tower's unparalleled data insights provide an in-depth look at cross-platform user behavior, essential for understanding market dynamics. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to track these industry leaders through our Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics offerings. Sensor Tower’s consolidated data offers unique advantages for decision-makers, ensuring strategic growth and market leadership.