According to a Search Engine Watch column by Elisabeth Osmeloski of Adventures in Search, travel marketers would do well to begin by examining their presence in organic search listings.

Travel firms may find it beneficial to base their search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies on things such as inclusive prices, package deals and special offers as consumers seek to save money during the downturn, she explained.

Ms Osmeloski conceded that it may be difficult for marketers to risk amending content such as page names, title tags and headings if their websites already do well in Google.

“But you could be leaving some traffic on the table if you aren’t including location data appropriately or capitalising on related searches,” she noted.

According to Microsoft adCenter travel analyst Libby Thomas, traffic to travel websites soared by 175 per cent in the last quarter of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007.