The receipt of permission-based email makes travel consumers more likely to do business with a travel company, in addition to generating a more favorable opinion of the company and even a stronger sense of loyalty to its brand.

By the numbers, Epsilon's nationwide survey of consumers yielded the following results:

• 63% of recipients of permission-based email from travel companies said they were more likely to buy from the sending companies;
• 55% of survey respondents who receive permission-based email from travel companies said they have a more favorable opinion of those companies as a direct result of the communications;
• 50% of survey respondents who receive permission-based email from travel companies said they feel more loyal towards the sending companies and their brands.

"In the travel industry where so much activity has moved to the online arena, it's crucial that companies communicate effectively and efficiently with their customers and cater to their personal needs," said Kevin Mabley, senior vice president, Epsilon Strategic Services. "Our research demonstrates the many online and offline, measurable and immeasurable benefits of email marketing campaigns. Those benefits start with direct online airline ticket and hotel reservation transactions and extend to brand loyalty in multiple channels."

Epsilon provides comprehensive online and offline marketing services to some of the most-recognized brands in the world. Its email branding study is based on a mid-October 2008 survey of 1517 consumers. The survey was conducted by ROI Research, of Lancaster, PA. It explored the general impact of permission-based email marketing as well as specific product categories that included, in addition to Travel, Financial Services, Retail, Consumer Packaged Goods, and Pharmaceuticals-Healthcare.

In other key travel-related results from the email marketing research:

• 86% of respondents who opt to receive email from travel companies do so to learn about sales, discounts and special offers;
• 51% subscribe to learn about existing packages and destinations;
• 48% subscribe to receive coupons;
• 46% subscribe to hear about new packages, routes and destinations;
• 69% want to receive personalized content based on their website activity and past purchases, rather than generic content;
• 48% of respondents who receive permission-based email from a travel company said the email has a direct impact on offline purchases.

The Epsilon research was intended to analyze activities that take place offline or cannot be measured by click-thru rates and email open rates. The findings showed that 71% of recipients of an email from a travel company visit an aggregator site as a direct result of receiving the email; 33% type or copy a URL directly into their browser and 14% contact a travel agent.

Additional in-depth information about travel industry email branding preferences and viewpoints is available in a special report from Epsilon. The report can be found at www.epsilon.com/pr/travelemailbranding