What do Google trends have to say about the Hospitality Industry
The internet in the past two decades has become the change driver that is powering not just the search results for an average user but also growth opportunities for businesses. With thousands of search queries occurring a second, google trends provide access to datasets on a myriad of different topics and search terms. The search-terms popularity coincides with real-time consumer reaction to world events. Since the start of the pandemic, the search terms have been receptive to the pandemic-related restrictions, creating an opportunity where one can mine the search data to understand the various aspects of their industry.
When filtered for precision, the popularity of search terms paints a detailed picture of the events of 2020. Out of all the industries, few have been hard-hit in comparison to others. Where others can be agile, hospitality can go only so far concerning adaptability to the restrictions due to the nature of the crisis. As the industry started to recover over the summer, the second round of restrictions forced many businesses to experiment with their offerings and some, despite their experimentation are barely holding on. Despite the restrictions, the search term — ‘Dinner’ showed a regular pattern corresponding to the social and religious events, highlighting the urge to celebrate with friends and family. Where dinner’s popularity matched the yearly events, the popularity of the search terms — restaurant and take-out cuisine showed a strong correlation to the deployment and easing of the restrictions.
When compared over a year (Nov 2019 — Nov 2020), the popularity of both search terms — take-out (cuisine) & restaurant has been varied across the different states in the US, with differences partly relating to the urban status, general lifestyle and use of other platforms.
While one can understand the sharp demand for take-outs this year, it is also worth noting that the consumer demand for take-outs was slowly growing over the years, as the ecosystem required for robust deliveries became more established by systems designed by some of the biggest players in the industry — Uber Eats, DoorDash & Grubhub, each with a revenue of over a billion.
Overall, the trends showcase the effects of the pandemic in the form of restrictions and low consumer confidence while at the same time, they also highlight the consumer’s willingness to dine-in as seen by the popularity of the search term — restaurant. In this era, where tech-driven growth is influencing businesses and consumers, google trends have proven to be a useful indicator in understanding one’s industry and the future developments.
