Mercury Research study on Romanian tourism market: Vola.ro – most trusted online agency

Cristina Blanaru Business, Consumption Habits, e-Commerce, Marketing, Studies

Research company Mercury Research made, in September, a complex analysis of the Romanian tourism market to highlight which are the online tourism agencies most trusted by Romanians, the reasons that determine a tourist to book through a certain online platform, why people return to certain agencies and other consumption habits.

The study shows that Romanian tourists are starting to distance themselves from the mirage of super-offers and very small prices, they bet on trust, appreciate the pre and post sales support and the agency’s degree of recognition on the market.

According to the study, Vola.ro is the most trusted online tourism agency in Romania, ranking the best among the travelers that know the brand, with 33% saying the company is one worth to trust. Their number is 50% higher compared to the second one ranked, Avion.ro, and 57% up compared to the third, eSky.ro.

The final buying decision and the decision to return to a certain online tourism agency are decided by the client relations service and the rich holidays offer.

When it comes of Customers Relations, 30% of the customers knowing Vola.ro are recommending the agency, compared to 26% for 2nd ranked one, Avion.ro, and 20% for Paravion.ro. From top 3 agencies, Vola.ro is the only one with a Customer Care 24/7 service.

According to the same study, Romanian tourists are choosing Vola.ro for its wide range of holidays offer and because it is the most used online tourism agency in Romania. 67% of those travelling with online tourism agencies said they used Vola.ro at least once, and their number is three times higher compared to second ranked, Paravion.ro (24%). The study also shows that the first 3 online tourism agencies in Romania are concentrating around 80% of the buys made in this environment.

In terms of travels made during last year via an online tourism agency, Vola.ro was used by 74% of those who use tourism agencies, while next in line were eSky.ro and Avion.ro (12% each).

90% of Vola.ro’s clients say they are happy with agency’s service, while 70% say they are very happy.

 Tourism market is among the most competitive in Romania and, once with its digitization, the online players started to gain ground in front of the classical agencies. The study aimed to identify the perception of clients reported to most popular online tourism agencies in Romania. It is interesting to see how, following recent events on tourism market, the trust factor became a decisive in choosing the agency, and this trust is built in time, through repeated and consequent interactions, reason why we hope to develop this kind of studies in the near future

Ingrid Lambru,

Marketing Director Mercury Research

We are extremely happy to see that, in a such aggressive market when it comes of prices fights, factors such as trust and quality of services begun to play a role in travelers’ decisions. We are hopping this moment will represent a first step towards an industry eager to invest in improving services and in transparency towards the clients, and the situations where they are attracted with unsustainable prices – without being presented the risks – to vanish completely

Daniel Truica,

CEO Vola.ro

Mercury Research made the study in September, on a representative urban sample, aiming to identify different consumption habits from the Romanian tourism market and to compare the most known online tourism agencies in the country,  Avion.ro, eSky.ro, Fly-Go, Paravion, Tripsta and Vola.ro.