How to Leverage Website Visitor Data to Choose Your Next Target Language

Travel & Hospitality

Whether you are just starting your website localization journey or already have a multilingual site and are looking to expand, there are multiple strategies to help you choose your next target language.

A common traditional approach is to evaluate which markets are most critical for your company’s growth and proactively target them. For example, if a destination attracts a large number of visitors from a specific country, localizing for that audience may seem like an obvious choice. Alternatively, your company might target a particular market for strategic reasons such as expanding your hotel network, launching new routes, or establishing partnerships with local businesses.

While these approaches are effective, what if you don’t have a clear target market in mind or need help narrowing your options? Online web analytics tools can provide invaluable data to guide your decision-making.

Browser Language Preference: The Key Data Point

One of the most crucial metrics is the browser language preference of your website visitors. This data is automatically tracked by web analytics tools and reflects the language settings of the user's browser or device. For instance, a visitor in Spain would typically have their browser set to Spanish (Spain). Regardless of whether they land on a Spanish-language page or a page in another language, their browser language preference will be logged in your analytics.

By aggregating and analyzing this data, you can gain insights into your visitors’ geographic locations, language preferences, and purchasing behaviors, which can inform your decisions about which languages to prioritize for localization.

Aggregating and Analyzing Data

When analyzing language data, it’s often helpful to combine different variants of the same language. For instance, French spoken in France, Canada, and Algeria can all be grouped under the broader “French” category for an overall demand assessment. Later, you can decide which specific variant to localize for based on regional nuances.

However, exceptions exist—such as Simplified and Traditional Chinese—where readers may not easily switch between the two versions. In such cases, offering both versions or defaulting to English as a fallback might be necessary.

Key Factors to Consider

1. Market Culture and Habits

Visitor engagement and conversion rates often correlate with local language fluency. For example, markets like Scandinavia or the Netherlands, where English proficiency is exceptionally high, may have lower localization ROI compared to markets where native language content is essential for engagement.

2. Average Transaction Value

Assess the average spending per transaction from different regions. While higher traffic from a specific market may seem promising, it’s crucial to evaluate if those users contribute significantly to revenue. Sometimes, smaller markets with higher spending per user are more lucrative.

3. Bounce Rates

A high bounce rate—when users leave your site immediately after landing—can indicate that they’re unable to find content in their preferred language. Analyzing bounce rates by language preference can reveal missed opportunities.

4. Cancellations and Booking Behavior

In some countries, visa applications require proof of travel bookings, which can lead to higher cancellation rates. For example, markets with relaxed payment policies or no immediate credit card validation may experience cancellation rates exceeding 50%. Understanding these dynamics is crucial before committing resources to localization.

Avoid Relying Solely on IP Address for Language Selection

While it may seem logical to base language localization on users’ IP addresses, this approach has limitations. It often overlooks key factors such as multilingual populations, expatriate residents, or the fact that many users book travel while already abroad.

Updated Insights from 2025

• Browser Language Trends: Over 70% of global travelers now set their devices to their native language for browsing, with Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic showing the most significant year-over-year growth in online booking activity.
• Regional Preferences: South America and Southeast Asia have seen a 35% increase in localized booking activity, with mobile-first strategies driving engagement in these regions.
• Market Potential: Countries like Vietnam, Egypt, and Poland are emerging as high-growth markets with a combined increase of 28% in tourism-related search queries in their native languages.

By leveraging data on browser language preferences, along with deeper insights into user behavior and regional trends, businesses can make more informed localization decisions. Adopting a data-driven approach ensures a higher ROI and aligns with the evolving needs of global travelers, ultimately driving greater engagement and revenue.

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