BOSTON - According to new research published by Strategy Analytics' Travel Analytics programYelp or OpenTable: Which owns the most travel savvy users? owners of OpenTable and Yelp exhibit more than 4x the usage of airline and hotel apps versus those without the apps installed.
Yelp dominates OpenTable on two key metrics according to the research: installed base and usage. Much of Yelp's success can be attributed to its business model enabling regular and frequent usage versus OpenTable's more transactional experience. However, despite its success, Yelp users are actually less correlated with travel than OpenTable users.
OpenTable's transactional model is akin to that of travel apps with a primary objective of a user completing a reservation rather than simply browsing destinations. Perhaps an interest or willingness to use apps to complete a booking is one of the reasons for the strong relationship between OpenTable users and travel app ownership according to the report.
Yelp is more correlated to travel than the broad AppOptix Panel in general. OpenTable even more so. However, for those that own OpenTable and Yelp there are even stronger ties as nearly 80% of this segment has a travel app installed. Further, they actually travel. Amongst the most frequently used airline/hotel/OTA app is Delta – an app frequently associated with use immediately before and during travel.
According to Josh Martin, Travel Analytics Research Service Director, "It is unexpected that such a unique segment emerges by combining the cross-ownership of Yelp and OpenTable. The data indicates that even though there may not seem to be a direct link between local apps and long distance travel there are clear connections and opportunities for travel companies in the local sphere."
Photo caption: Installed Base of Travel Apps by Segment | Source: AppOptix (PRNewsFoto/Strategy Analytics).
