Google is pretty much the starting point of any search for knowledge these days. The ubiquitous search engine has remarkable resources and its data mining capabilities are second to none. This includes insight into travel. By looking at search trends we can see where we want to go. And the result are fascinating.
First off, Google’s destination insights are detailed, comprehensive, and perhaps provide the most insightful look into traveler’s intent. Google methodically categorizes and analyzes people’s travel searches and makes that information public, which then allows us to sift though and get a better understanding of what destinations people are most interested in.
Looking at the recent data shows what types of travel and destinations people are most interested in at a given period of time. It’s a snapshot into our collective travel soul.
The first thing we notice about searches in 2020 versus 2019, is that daydreaming about travel is still alive and well, but searching to gain practical insight into booking a trip, has obviously been impacted by the pandemic and travel bans.
Next, we can see which destinations people are most interested in. We’re surprised to se Eastern Europe taking such a prominent lead over say Eastern Asia which has done much better with managing COVOD-19 than other areas. We suspect this is partially from winter-weary Russians.
We’re not surprised to see most locations searches are down, after all we can’t really travel. But it’s fun to see Antarctica as being the sole destination which had more search demand.
