*THIS DATA WAS PULLED March 7 2023
Easter is one of Mexico’s ‘big three’ holidays alongside Christmas and Día de los Muertos. Semana Santa, or Holy Week, encompasses Easter and is one of the country’s most celebrated holidays of the year due to the largely Catholic population. With families traveling to see one another, it is usually one of the biggest domestic travel seasons. As a result, beach destinations and colonial cities often become very busy during the Easter season.
As locals tend to leave the larger Mexican cities for the Easter break, Mexico City is a popular destination for the global travel audience looking for a ‘quieter-than-usual’ time to visit the capital.
With Easter break travel beginning April 1st this year and continuing through to April 15th (compared to April 9-23 in 2022), global inbound interest has increased as the holiday period nears.
Global inbound Easter break travel to Mexico’s beach cities was up 4% compared to the same period last year. That said, the Latin American and European feeder markets have shown a slight drop in bookings. But the good news is that North American bookings started to increase faster this year than in 2022, at around 100 days ahead of the Easter travel period. These bookings have increased year over year and are helping to counteract other decreases.
Travel Marketing Tip: Changing your messaging and creative assets when speaking to global vs. domestic travelers is crucial. Their wants and needs for their trip vary greatly, and this is reflected in their travel search behaviors. With Easter approaching, and many more holiday seasons to come throughout the year, maybe it is time to refresh your creatives?
2023 is the year of family travel to Mexico over the Easter season from Latin America, Caribbean, and North America in particular. With a year over year increase as high as 26% in families traveling from North America, it is clear families are a popular audience for Mexican beach destinations.
In 2022, there was a significant increase in tourism numbers during Holy Week to some of Mexico’s most popular destinations. With such a high last year, we see some slightly lower numbers this year such as the 0% change from European families traveling to Cancun. However, this is not to say that interest is low.
Travel Marketing Tip: As of March 5, we see a large shift towards family travel compared to the same time last year. Travel brands should start or continue ramping up content around their family-friendly product offerings to gain interest from the largest volume of travelers.
Although travel bookings from European markets to Cancun are down or remain the same compared to last year, those who are planning to visit over the break predominantly (over 70%) plan to stay for eight to fourteen days. Over a tenth of European travelers intend on visiting for even longer which highlights that these trips are being planned as primary trips for the year, indicating a growth in confidence in the wider travel industry. With travelers keen to be away from home for such long periods of time, travel marketers should consider suggesting ways for visitors to maximize their time in Mexico.
Travel Marketing Tip: Those looking to target European travelers can gain advantage over competitors by tailoring their messaging toward longer stays. However, it is important to remember that irrespective of a guest’s trip duration, direct bookings are the best for your business. Reach out to Sojern to find out how you can partner to drive more direct bookings and capture this year’s Easter traveler audience.
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