| In Part 1, you learned about Google Trends and | | | | Now try "national park, shopping mall, shopping |
| how to research the interests of vacation and | | | | center, ski area, ski resort". These last four |
| holiday travelers. We used the tool to compare | | | | destination types have peaks of varying height in |
| different travel types, and to determine their | | | | December. |
| relative popularity and seasonal trends over | | | | To drill down into more detail, you can pick |
| multiple years. | | | | specific destinations such as this search: "national |
| In Part 2, we'll analyze searches for different | | | | park, Disneyland , Disney World, Six Flags, Sea |
| types of destinations such as parks, beaches, | | | | World". Note the relatively continuous popularity of |
| museums and golf courses. Remember, our | | | | the Disney parks and Sea World throughout the |
| research assumes that Google searches indicate | | | | year, while Six Flags gets the most interest in |
| travel behavior. The information we discover will | | | | July. |
| help us understand the interests of travelers | | | | Camping and campgrounds are seasonal, of |
| around the world. | | | | course, with strongest interest in July. More |
| So what types of destinations do travelers want | | | | interesting is the fact that "camping" (meaning the |
| to visit? To start finding the answer, go to Google | | | | activity or perhaps the type of equipment) is |
| Trends (see the address at the end of this article) | | | | much more popular than "campground" (the place). |
| and submit this search: "national park, state park, | | | | Try it yourself: "national park, camping, |
| county park, regional park" (with the commas but | | | | campground". |
| without the quotes). When the page reloads, you'll | | | | Golf courses and golf clubs have similar popularity |
| see a line graph of the search phrases over | | | | and seasonal trends (with strong peaks in July) to |
| multiple years. The relative heights of the lines | | | | national parks. To see for yourself, search for |
| show that national and state parks are more | | | | "national park, golf course, golf club". |
| popular than county and regional parks. The peaks | | | | Other destinations are much popular than national |
| and valleys of the lines show that interest is | | | | parks, such as in this search: "national park, beach, |
| seasonal, with interest highest in June and July | | | | mountain, museum". Beaches have a wide range |
| (meaning summer in the northern hemisphere) | | | | of seasonal interest, with a peak in July and |
| and lowest in December. | | | | lowest interest in December, though beaches |
| The lower half of the page shows the regions and | | | | remain more popular than any other destination |
| cities where the searches originated. For example, | | | | type. The seasonal trend of mountains and |
| interest in national parks is high in South Africa, | | | | museums is mostly flat, except mountains have a |
| Australia, New Zealand and the USA. | | | | wide peak from December to February (ski |
| Now let's look at search results for other | | | | season?) and museums have a sharp peak at the |
| destination types. Because the y-axis on the | | | | end of December (school break?). |
| graph is relative, we will use "national park" as a | | | | Looking deeper into the seasonal popularity of |
| constant in the comparisons. That way we can | | | | beaches, we can see it depends on the beach's |
| compare, for example, beaches vs. theme parks | | | | distance and direction to the equator. For |
| without having to submit them in the same | | | | example, where summers are hot and winters |
| search. This is necessary because Google Trends | | | | are cold, beaches tend to be more popular during |
| only allows the comparison of five phrases at a | | | | summer-such as the USA in August or Australia in |
| time. | | | | December. Where temperatures are more |
| As we try different destination types, we'll see | | | | constant (such as in Hawaii), beaches remain |
| that some destinations are less popular than | | | | popular throughout the year. Try it yourself: |
| national parks. For example, search for "national | | | | "Sydney beach, Mexico beach, Hawaii beach, |
| park, theme park, water park, scuba diving, | | | | Texas beach, France beach". |
| ecotourism". Some of the destination types reach | | | | Using these research techniques, you will better |
| their highest popularity in July, such as the strong | | | | understand the interests of travelers around the |
| peak for water parks and the weaker peak for | | | | world. |
| theme parks. | | | | |